


Communication: Sidestories

by Novaforever



Category: K-pop, Wonder Girls
Genre: Angst, Comedy, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-10
Updated: 2012-12-10
Packaged: 2017-11-20 19:45:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/588987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novaforever/pseuds/Novaforever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Side stories from the "Letters" and "Emails" series. Mostly surrounding Sun Ye and Yubin, but branches out into some other characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Worlds Apart but United in Spirit

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collection of Side stories from the "Letters" and "Emails" universe. It would make a lot more sense to read those fics first before this one as the stories collected here come from points throughout the timeline of those fics.

Communication - Sidestories

Worlds Apart but United in Spirit 

I fidgeted again in my seat, earning a concerned look from one of the flight attendants. It had been like this for the past hour. The woman probably thought I was having some kind of fit at this point. I knew I should try to calm down and stay still, but that was way beyond my physical capabilities at this point. The attendant rolled her eyes as I squirmed in my seat again and picked up her speaker.

“Attention all passengers,” she announced to everyone sitting in the first class section. “We will now begin our descent into Seoul. Please buckle your seatbelts and remain on the plane until we announce it is safe to disembark. Thank you for flying Korean Air. We hope to see you all again soon.”

Crap. I was almost in Korea. My muscles clenched as I buckled my seatbelt and the plane dipped lower. This was just a logical progression of things right? My girlfriend was overseas; eventually I was bound to go visit her. I had been working hard for months just so I could take this one-week vacation and spend some time with her. There was no reason that I should be freaking out this much, but I couldn’t help but worry about what was waiting for me in my old home country. Our conversation from before I hopped on the plane in New York City wasn’t exactly helping matters right now either. 

 

“You have no idea how excited I am to see you again Yubin…”

“Oh, I think I have a fair idea of that feeling,” I said with a chuckle. 

“I’m not the only one that is excited you know,” Sun Ye added. “Ye Eun, Sun Mi, So Hee… they all can’t wait to see you again.”

My heart slowed in my chest at the mention of my fellow ex-Wonder Girls. I hadn’t seen them in far longer than I hadn’t seen Sun Ye. 

“It’s going to be great! They are all planning to come over for dinner the night of your arrival. We can all cook and then eat together just like old times,” she said happily.

Just like old times? I couldn’t help but feel that Sun Ye was greatly simplifying matters. Sure we all had happy memories in the past together, but there was one not so good memory that kept resurfacing every time I thought of the other Girls; the one of me breaking us up to start my solo career in America. 

“Yeah… just like old times,” I said quietly back into the phone.

 

Crap crap crap. 

Why the hell was I here!? Why was I on a plane headed straight to the people that freaked me out the most? I couldn’t just waltz back in there like normal. Ye Eun I could deal with, I basically knew where I stood with her. Sun Mi and So Hee though… I hadn’t spoken to them since the day I had walked out on everyone. I couldn’t possibly be in good standing with them still. Sun Ye’s pacifying statements definitely hadn’t done much to sooth my jangled nerves. 

Sun Ye… she was the only thing keeping me remotely together at this point. We had done really well together in our time apart. At first it was pretty hard for both of us. I had returned to my penthouse in New York City and it just seemed bigger and emptier than ever. Work seemed so much less fulfilling when I didn’t get to see Sun Ye at the office or tagging along to interviews. She called me saying the same thing. Work for her in Korea was pretty harsh at first; although things were changing in the country, it still wasn’t entirely ‘cool’ to be openly gay. JYPE stood by her though and helped her to get appearances on television to boost her image. She had even dropped a new mini-album to record sales. A rocky start for both of us being apart, but it all seemed to be working out okay in the end. We called each other two or three times a week and emailed and wrote constantly. It was good to be in constant contact with her, but being able to hold her was going to be even better. 

I twisted against my seatbelt again as the plane started to dip down to the runway at Incheon Airport. Only a few minutes until I would be facing the Girls and Sun Ye. I paused in my fidgeting for a second. Only a few minutes until I would see Sun Ye?!

Crap crap crap. 

I reached into my shoulder bag on the seat next to me and pulled out my make up compact and checked my hair nervously. Urgh. I looked terrible. A twenty-plus hours plane ride didn’t exactly turn you into a beautiful princess. My fingers ran nervously through my hair in a failed attempt to restore it to order, barely even noticing as the plane screeched to a stop on the runway. 

“We have safely arrived in Seoul. It is now safe for you to leave the plane. Thank you again for choosing Korean Air for your travels,” the flight attendant announced into the speaker again.

The compact clicked shut in my hand. No point in dwelling on my appearance now. I waited for the few other people riding in first class to collect their things and leave the cabin before picking up my bag and heading to the exit. With a deep breath I stepped out of the plane and walked down the boarding ramp to the waiting area of the airport. 

Despite the large amounts of people milling around and the silly sunglasses and hat she was wearing to conceal her identity, I still managed to find Sun Ye instantly. It was obvious I wasn’t the only one with that special gift either. Sun Ye smiled at me the second I stepped off the ramp into the airport. I shouldered my travel bag and jogged happily over to her, trying my hardest to not outright run into her arms. Even if that was exactly what I wanted to do, I still had to preserve at least some amount of my street cred. 

Sun Ye bounced forward to meet me when we were just a few steps apart and threw her arms around me. I brought my own arms up and wrapped them around her waist as I breathed into her hair. Yes, this was what I missed. I couldn’t experience this sensation over the phone. She murmured happily into my neck, sending shivers down my spine. Just having her in my arms was bliss, I didn’t have to be touching or kissing her.

“I missed you so much,” she whispered into my neck. 

I squeezed her even tighter. 

“Trust me, the feeling was mutual.”

She pulled back slightly in my arms to smile at me. I wanted to pull off her sunglasses and look into her beautiful eyes, but I knew that action would probably cause her more trouble than it would be worth. Besides, I was getting different idea from being in such close proximity to her. Sure, being in her arms was fantastic, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t kiss her too. 

“I believe I am supposed to get a reward for traveling all the way to Korea to see you,” I said huskily. 

My head tilted and my eyes slid shut as I leaned down toward her. Instead of meeting her soft lips, my head ran right into her hand. My eyes fluttered open to glare at my girlfriend who was standing there smirking at me behind her sunglasses. I’d only been in Korea for three minutes and she was already ruining all my fun.

“As much as I would love to start kissing and doing all sorts of naughty things to you right here and now, I’m going to have to put a stop to this,” Sun Ye said in a whisper. “You’ve been in America too long. Kissing in public isn’t really as common here remember? Plus I think you are already attracting attention.”

I glanced around me and saw several people in the airport stopping to stare. One girl near me pointed and ran forward excitedly. 

“You’re Yubin!! And that means you are Min Sun Ye!” she squealed happily at the two of us. 

She tore into her purse to bring out a scrap of paper and a pen for an autograph. Sun Ye smiled and jotted her signature for the girl and passed the paper to me. I hadn’t really expected people to recognize me this easily in Korea. 

“You couldn’t have worn a hat or something?” Sun Ye hissed at me in English as she started signing things for the growing crowd of people around us. 

I chuckled at a small Korean girl who was excitedly rapping one of my songs back at me in poor English. Perhaps coming back to Korea wasn’t so bad after all. 

 

I stumbled up to the door to Sun Ye’s apartment. She laughed at me as she pulled out her keys and fumbled to open the door. 

“Just how popular are you in Korea?!” I complained loudly. “We should have made a break for it. Two hours on autographs was a little much for just getting off a tiring flight. All I want now is a shower.”

“Whatever! It was all your fault anyway. Besides, you are here for a week, we have plenty of time for sitting around, showering, doing you know… whatever.”

She gave me a darkened look as she pushed the door to her apartment open and I grinned back at her. That was true, I hadn’t collected my reward for traveling all the way around the world to see her. I trailed behind her into the darkened apartment and waited for her to flick on the lights. As soon as she did, I took a good look around. Sun Ye’s apartment was nothing to sneer at. JYPE was obviously taking good care of their number one solo artist and had given her a penthouse that was on equal terms to my New York City one. She had a nice spacious kitchen, one that could fit plenty of people and a decent sized living room with a balcony. I glanced at the walls and smirked at her choice of decorations. She had framed promo posters from her own singles and even some of my American ones hanging over her couches. Hadn’t she made fun of me for that?

A sudden flash of red darted in front of me, blocking my view of the apartment. Before I had time to think, a pair of arms was thrown around my shoulders and I unexpectedly found myself looking right into Ye Eun’s dancing eyes. 

“Hey there sexy, what brings you to this side of the world?” she asked me in a deep voice. 

I glared back at her seductive face.

“Sun Ye put you up to this didn’t she?” I deadpanned back at her. 

“She promised me an extra serving of dessert,” Ye Eun admitted. “But it’s kinda starting to freak me out. So I’m going to go back to my normal personal space zone of about three feet away from your wandering hands.”

“Yeah I think that would be for the best.”

Ye Eun unlatched from my shoulders and backed away. I folded my arms and stared at Sun Ye. She turned away and started searching the cabinets for cooking supplies in an effort to cover up her beaming smile. It was obvious she was glad to have both of us together again. I had to admit that it felt good, even if Ye Eun was a weirdo. 

“So is this some new hobby you picked up in the past several months since I last saw you? Sneak into people’s apartments, sit in the dark, and then jump out onto unsuspecting girls? How did you even get in here anyway?” I questioned her.

“What did you think that I just climbed the building to sneak in a window to play a prank on you?” Ye Eun asked with a laugh as I shrugged. “I like messing with you, but I didn’t do anything that glamorous. I have a key naturally.”

“You have a key!? I don’t even have a key!” I complained.

Sun Ye turned from the cupboards to stare at me. 

“Are you serious, Yubin!? You don’t even live in this country.”

I walked over to Sun Ye and hugged her tightly from behind. She instantly relaxed into my arms as a held her and rested my head on her shoulder.

“Doesn’t matter,” I said with a pout. “I’m just saying that it would be nice for a key to be offered.”

“Do you want a key to my apartment?” Sun Ye asked me with a giggle. 

“Yes please!”

She leaned back against me and kissed my cheek lightly in acquiescence. 

“Oh my goodness. You guys are so adorable together. It kinda sickens me,” Ye Eun complained loudly as she leaned against the counter. 

Sun Ye blushed and squirmed out of my arms and returned to grabbing the pots and pans necessary to cook dinner. I rolled my eyes and glared at Ye Eun. She just smirked back at me and waved happily. I wanted to act more upset, but really this felt fantastic. It was almost like I had never left the safe haven of our little group. Ye Eun had the special knack of making a potentially awkward situation dissipate. 

“Whatever, I really just want to freshen up. That plane ride was far too long and all I can think about right now is a nice hot shower. Is the bathroom down this way?” I asked Sun Ye as I picked up my bag and pointed to the hallway.

The shorthaired girl put down the cutting board she had been preparing and followed me to the entrance of the hall. 

“Yeah… um do you need any help? You know, getting ready or anything?” 

Sun Ye’s darkened eyes stared at me again and I could feel my blood heat up. Damn the power this woman had over me. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Ye Eun looking back and forth between the two of us. 

“Oh hell no!” she yelled out. “I did not take a half day off work to come over here to sit in my best friend’s apartment by myself while she and her girlfriend play ‘happy reunion’ in the shower together.”

A blush rose to Sun Ye’s cheeks again and she broke eye contact with me to return to work in the kitchen. I sighed. As much as I missed Ye Eun, sometimes I still didn’t want her around. 

 

I sat on one of the stools at the kitchen counter and talked to Ye Eun as Sun Ye darted around the kitchen getting the food out for dinner. We hadn’t really talked since her short visit to America and there was plenty for us to discuss.

“So yeah, now they have me writing the theme song for this new drama. It’s going to star Park Bom and Taeyang, so it’s basically set to be a hit. Both of them are going to sing to whatever I compose, so I am super excited. I wish I was writing for Sun Ye again, but what can you do?”

“I know what you mean,” I sympathized. “They have me doing a collaboration with Beyonce as a publicity stunt. Not that I hate working with her, but I would much rather be doing a song with that mysterious Sun who disappeared from America so quickly.”

Sun Ye shot me a dirty look over her shoulder for my joke. I just grinned back at her innocently and went back to listening to Ye Eun. 

“Yeah so I’m going to be in the studio for the next few days, if you want to stop by I could probably hook you up wit-“

“What the hell Sun Mi! That’s the last time I let you pick me up from work! I thought you said you got your driver’s license!?” a familiar voice echoed out in the hallway. 

“I do have a driver’s license!” Sun Mi yelled back defensively. 

“Did you get it through bribery?! Cause I can’t think of any way you could have gotten it through skill.”

Now there was a sound I hadn’t heard in a while. A giant smile spread across my face as I listened to Sun Mi and So Hee make their way down the hallway. It sure seemed like they hadn’t changed much in the years away from me. As the voices got closer to the door I could feel my heart speed up. This was it. This was what I had been freaking out about for the past several days. No running away for me this time. 

The door burst open as So Hee charged into the apartment without knocking. Sun Mi trailed closely behind her, tugging at her best friend’s jacket sleeve. 

“No So Hee! Please let me drive you home again! I promise not to play the ‘look no hands’ game next time!”

I stood up quietly from my stool and took in the sight of the two of them. So Hee had most certainly grown up. Almost all traces of girlishness were gone from her, but her trademark puffy cheeks remained. She looked every bit the professional model in her stylish coat with her long black hair trailing around its collar. Sun Mi had grown up just as much. She had obviously hit another growth spurt and stood a good several inches above So Hee, her chocolate brown hair a perfect contrast to So Hee’s jet black in an amusing mirror of their mismatched personalities. 

“So Hee~ why are you so mean to me all the tim- OH MY GOSH It’s Yubin!!” Sun Mi yelled as she finally spotted me standing awkwardly in the kitchen. 

The tall girl darted forward and grabbed me into a fierce hug. I grinned into her long hair as it flew up to hit me in the face. A little bit of the metaphorical pressure on my heart lightened at the knowledge that Sun Mi was most definitely happy to see me. However she did seem to be increasing the physical pressure on my heart with her overexcited hug. 

“Yeah Sun Mi, glad to see you too,” I squeaked out. “And you seem to have gotten stronger since I last saw you.”

“She’s a regular Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Ye Eun said with a chuckle as she pried the younger girl off of me.

“I knew you were going to be here, but I’m still so excited!” Sun Mi said happily. “We all missed you so much! I can’t wait for dinner, and then maybe we can watch TV like we used to and then we could-“

The girl was going a mile a minute. My jaw dropped as she named off all the possible things that we could do before I returned to America. I had obviously underestimated her excitement over my visit to Seoul. Ye Eun gestured to me that I should just cut the younger girl’s rant off. 

“Okay wow! Yeah Sun Mi, I’m sure we can do at least… three of those things together. In the meantime I have something special for you guys.”

I ducked behind the counter and pulled out my travel bag. After a little bit of rooting around in the bag my hands landed on my presents for the three girls. With a little tug I freed them from my bag and walked over to the waiting girls to distribute the gifts. 

“For Ye Eun I have some boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese, since she seems to love it so much for some reason.”

Ye Eun snatched the blue boxes of noodles out of my hands excitedly. 

“You are my hero Yubin! This stuff is just addictive. The orange powder just makes it the best pasta in the world!”

I rolled my eyes at her and moved on to Sun Mi. 

“Here Sun Mi,” I said nervously. “Um, Sun Ye said that you sometimes listen to my albums so I brought you the limited edition of my new album. I figured you would never be able to get it here in Korea.”

Sun Mi’s face glowed as I put the shiny new CD in her hands. I guess she really did enjoy my music; Sun Ye wasn’t just trying to make me feel better.

“I wanted this album so badly! It was sold out almost instantly in America so I never even stood a chance at getting it. Now I have something to play in the car for So Hee next time!” 

To my right I could distinctly hear So Hee mutter something about never setting foot in a car with Sun Mi again. I chuckled and turned to the last girl with her gift. So Hee broke her gaze away from her best friend to stare forcefully at me. It was the first time she had actually made eye contact with me all night. I swallowed nervously as I held my present for her out towards her. 

“Um I got you your favorite American mascara. At least it was your favorite four years ago. I figured you might not be able to find it here in Korea.”

So Hee stared at me without moving. I continued to hold the makeup out for her, determined not to lose in her battle of the wills. 

“Yeah. Four years really is a long time,” she said gruffly as she plucked the mascara out of my hand and slipped it into her pocket. 

As soon as she had pocketed the present she strolled past me into the kitchen. Ouch. That was basically how I saw that meeting going in my nightmares of coming back to Seoul. It was fair though. I couldn’t expect everyone to be as upbeat as Sun Mi and welcome me back with open arms. With a sigh I turned back to the kitchen where So Hee was sliding onto a stool next to Ye Eun. Sun Ye glanced at me nervously from the kitchen counter, obviously concerned at how I was taking the cold shoulder from the younger girl. I just shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. What was I supposed to do now? It wasn’t like I could just go back to the kitchen where So Hee was and act like everything was hunky-dory. Sun Mi seemed to notice my nervousness and grabbed my arm and started dragging me to the porch. 

“Oh my gosh Yubin! You have to see something outside! It’s so cool, I’m sure that you will love it.”

I let the younger girl drag me outside onto the porch and came to a stop next to her at the railing overlooking the heart of Seoul. Sun Ye really did have an impressive view going, but I wasn’t sure what exactly was so exciting that Sun Mi had to drag me to see it. 

“Yeah it’s a city, Sun Mi. They have those where I come from too,” I said in an uninterested voice.

“Wow, Gwangju is big enough to count as a city now?” Sun Mi said with an innocent look. 

My fist jutted out and I punched the younger girl lightly in the arm for her subtle jab at my smaller hometown. She giggled and tugged on my sleeve for forgiveness.

“What I want to show you isn’t down there,” she tried to explain happily. “It’s up there.”

She pointed up at the stars. The busy metropolis below blocked out most of the twinkling lights in the sky, but I could just barely make out some of the bigger constellations. 

“Stars are fascinating and all, but I don’t know why we had to rush out here just to see them.”

“Look at that one there,” Sun Mi pointed out one of the few sets of stars shining through the city lights. “That’s Cassiopeia. She was this woman back in the day who thought she was all that, so the gods took her when she died and hung her upside down in the sky to embarrass her.”

I blinked at Sun Mi in the darkness as she continued to stare upward into the sky. This girl had always been a little different; there was no denying that. Yet sometimes when she tried to use that different nature of hers to explain something to someone… it ended up getting a little lost in translation. I continued to wait for Sun Mi to chip in some extra bit of information to enlighten me on what she was trying to say, but she just kept staring at the stars.

“Okay, I honestly have no clue what you are talking about Sun Mi. If you are done, I think I’ll just go back inside.”

Sun Mi’s arm darted out and she grabbed my arm to make sure I couldn’t escape. She pulled me back to the railing and pointed up at the constellation again. 

“Look at Cassiopeia. That’s you,” she explained like it was really the simplest thing in the world. 

I glanced up at the sky again and then back to Sun Mi before raising an eyebrow quizzically at her. 

“So I’m a vain person that needs to be hung upside down to be taught some humility?”

“Maybe just a little,” she said with a grin. “I mean at first glance it seemed like you left us for your career in America and that sort of thing can’t be forgotten so easily.”

With a sigh I leaned back against the railing and stared sadly at Sun Mi. She finally broke her gaze away from the stars to look back at me. Was this her way of saying that So Hee was giving me the cold shoulder as punishment for the betrayal of me leaving? It didn’t exactly make me feel better to have one of my less-than-shining moments in my life compared on a grand scale to stars.

“But even with Cassiopeia it wasn’t like people hated her. Everyone looks up at the sky now and sees her as something to admire.”

My mind tried to piece together Sun Mi’s vague analogy with the bits of astronomy that I happened to know. Although the constellation of Cassiopeia was upside for part of the year, as time went on she would gradually rotate to be right side up. Making her an object for all star gazers to marvel at. 

“So what you are trying to tell me is that, although So Hee might act upset now, she really does like me and is just giving me the cold shoulder to remind me of my place and past faults?” I reasoned out loud to her.

“Is that what I’m saying?” she asked curiously. 

I let out a deep sigh and started to walk back to the kitchen again. It would almost be preferable to bear So Hee’s glares than try and continue this painful conversation with Sun Mi. 

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Sun Mi yelled as she dragged me back to the balcony railing. 

The girl pleaded at me with her eyes and I found myself caving and leaning back against the railing once again. I waited patiently for her to continue.

“I buy every single one of your albums when they come out here in Korea. You’ve gotten so much better since you started in the United States and I just love to listen to all of your albums back to back just to hear that. So Hee never says it out loud, but every time your new CD comes out she will just ‘happen’ to stop by my apartment. She always ends up listening to the whole album with me.”

My heart swelled at Sun Mi’s words. It made me so happy to know that the albums I worked so hard on were enjoyed by both of the younger girls that much. 

“So that means that So Hee really is happy to see me? Deep down under that stoic surface of course?”

Sun Mi grinned back at me. 

“She accepted your present didn’t she?”

I laughed at Sun Mi’s much-simplified example of So Hee’s acceptance of me. The younger girl could have saved a lot of time and stargazing if she had just pointed that out in the first place instead. She grinned happily and I ruffled the girl’s hair as we finally started heading inside together. At least I could go back to acting normal with So Hee again. 

“Wait, if I am Cassiopeia in your analogy wouldn’t that make So Hee God?”

“Everyone has to worship something,” she said simply.

 

“Sun Mi, I’m not going to eat that,” So Hee said with an apathetic stare. 

Her best friend just leaned in her chair to reach her younger friend, pushing her chopsticks with bibimbap into her face. Sun Mi had been feeding her friend all night, but So Hee was clearly growing tired of the process. I chuckled under my breath. Sure I had been away from them for a few years, but even I could see how this was going to end. 

“Stop that!” So Hee yelled as she smacked the chopsticks out of Sun Mi’s hand. “I told you I am on a diet for a new photo shoot! Why don’t you listen to me?”

Sun Mi pouted as she stared at the fallen bibimbap on the tabletop.

“If you don’t eat more you are going to shrivel up and die,” Sun Mi said sadly. 

Sun Ye’s head sank into her hands as she listened to the two girls fighting across the table from her. I could definitely sympathize with her right now. So Hee had basically glared at me for a few minutes when I had come back from the porch and then we had fallen back into our old rhythms. That meant So Hee and Sun Mi having their usual catfights. Although apparently this was something that Sun Ye had to deal with all the time when the two younger girls came over for a home cooked meal. 

“So Hee, could you just eat one more bite of it? Just to keep her quiet?” Sun Ye pleaded.

“Screw that! If she doesn’t want that food I’ll eat it!” Ye Eun exclaimed as the shoveled the food onto her plate. “Food is wasted on models anyway.”

Ye Eun continued to munch happily on her new portion of dinner as Sun Mi’s jaw dropped in shock. 

“Look! She’s eating all your food. I hope you are happy now!” she yelled at So Hee.

So Hee just shrugged apathetically and let her friend continue to verbally berate her. It was amazing what kind of things you never realized you missed until they were gone. I could remember several years ago when this sort of fight broke out at dinner and I would be upset that it was distracting me from my time with Sun Ye or annoyed that they could never calm down. Now that Sun Ye was mine totally and completely and I had been away from them for so long… it was all causing a giant nostalgia trip. 

“I missed you guys so much,” I said quietly. 

The fighting across from the table stopped instantly at my words. Everyone glanced over at me and I immediately regretted saying that out loud. Everything had just gotten back to normal too. So Hee narrowed her eyes slightly at me, jaw dropped open, as if I had just reminded her that she was supposed to be angry with me. Crap.

“Hah! Of course you missed us! We are pretty freaking awesome!” Ye Eun said happily as she shoveled a bunch of bibimbap into So Hee’s open mouth.

The younger girl immediately spit it out, right on the unfortunate Sun Mi who had leaned in to laugh at So Hee. 

“EW!” Sun Mi yelled as she wiped the food off her face.

“Ye Eun! I can’t believe you just did that! You are supposed to be the older, more mature girl here,” So Hee complained loudly. 

Thus it all began again. I grinned as the dinner table fell back into its version of peace, which just happened to more closely resemble pandemonium to the untrained eye. It was good to be back. 

Sun Ye’s hand lightly landed on my thigh under the table and gave it a comforting squeeze. I turned to her and smiled, letting her know that everything was totally okay. 

“I missed having us all together too,” she whispered softly to me. 

I leaned in and rested my head against hers. 

“You do realize that I’m going to subject you to these dinners the entire week I am here right? I’m only here for a limited time and I want to experience this as much as possible before I go back.”

She sighed in resignation. Like she could ever really deny my requests. 

“Fine, but I demand at least one dinner that is just the two of us,” she insisted. 

“Seriously guys,” Ye Eun whined next to Sun Ye. “Could you cut down on the public displays of affection at the dinner table? It is really ruining my appetite.”

“I think it’s cute how happy they are,” Sun Mi insisted. “Hey So Hee maybe we could…”

The brunette leaned in towards So Hee, making the younger girl scoot her chair back from the table. 

“Well I’m ready to go home,” she announced.

Sun Mi pouted and followed the girl over to the doorway. 

“Alright, fine. But we have to listen to the album that Yubin gave me in the car!”

“What!? No! Who said you were driving home?” So Hee asked as she slipped her shoes and jacket back on. 

Sun Mi opened the door and ran out into the hallway. 

“Driver gets to pick the tunes. Duh. Everyone knows that.”

“You are driving and picking the music? I’m not okay with either of those choices!” So Hee complained as she slammed the door to the apartment shut behind her. 

Sun Ye, Ye Eun, and I sat in stunned silence for a few seconds.

“Um, do they always just storm out of here like that?” I asked.

“It’s been a lot harder to keep them contained since they got cars,” Ye Eun said simply. “And I guess that would be my queue to make my exit as well. Thanks for the dinner as always Sun Ye. Being best friends with you is like having access to a four star restaurant at all hours of the day!”

“Um don’t you mean a five star restaurant?” Sun Ye questioned her friend.

“I stand by my statement,” Ye Eun said with a grin as she stood up from the table. 

Sun Ye sighed at Ye Eun and followed the girl over to the door. I got up to see Ye Eun off properly since I had been far too stunned to do that with the younger two. 

“Alright I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone now. Just remember to give me a call whenever you want to see the studio and I’ll hook you up Yubin!” she said as she opened the front door. 

“I’ll definitely take you up on that,” I said with a grin.

Ye Eun gave one final wave before walking out the front door, leaving Sun Ye and I in a peaceful, empty apartment. I turned to look at my girlfriend and she grinned back at me. 

“Now I believe you said something about me having to give you a reward for coming all the way to Korea?”

Yeah, spending time with Ye Eun, Sun Mi, and So Hee was fantastic and I was glad to experience it again and yadda yadda. But all good things had to come to an end and be replaced with even bigger and sexier things. 

I wrapped my arms around Sun Ye’s small waist and pulled her closer to me. 

“It’s really odd, on the tour of your apartment I don’t remember being shown the location of your bedroom.”

Her jaw dropped in a great impression of shock. 

“Really? Well I am just a terrible hostess aren’t I? I should probably fix that right away,” she said as pulled lightly on my arm and led me toward the hallway. 

I grinned and let Sun Ye show me the way. The old saying was right; home definitely was where the heart was.

And damn was it good to be home.


	2. Interior Decorating Faux Pas

Sidestory #2: Interior Decorating Faux Pas

Her dark eyes stared back from her beautiful, tan appearance; black hair falling from the constraints of her Yankee’s hat to waver sexily in front of her face. She wasn’t even wearing anything impressive, just a tight hoodie that hugged her body while still managing to look thuggish. It was a look that few people could pull off well, but this tanned goddess managed to make it look absolutely effortless. In the end, there was something undeniably gorgeous about the way the tanned girl held herself, power leaking from every aspect of her. 

Sun Ye sighed and threw her arm over her eyes to block out the image of the poster hanging across from her couch. Why had she thought it would be a good idea to put a framed promo poster of Yubin’s new album in her living room? She had ‘happened’ to stumble across it when she was browsing an online site and before she knew it the poster was hanging on her wall. 

Now it all seemed like a terrible idea though. Having her ex-girlfriend constantly staring at her was a bit… unnerving. It most certainly wasn’t conducive to her having a normal relationship, that was for sure. Sun Ye’s eyes flitted against her arm as she winced at the thought of what had happened just a bit ago. 

 

Park Taehwan buried his head in her shoulder, kissing the skin there. Sun Ye murmured lightly at his attentions and wrapped her arms around his muscular back. They finally had a free day with each other. His training had gotten cancelled and she had just finished a concert tour and was finally on break. It was good to have a bit of time to spend with each other catching up. 

“Mmm I’ve missed getting to do this with you,” Park murmured into her neck. “I hate that we are both constantly so busy. We really need to make up for lost time…”

He nudged Sun Ye slightly so that she fell back on the couch. Sun Ye didn’t even have a spare moment to think as he immediately went back to nuzzling her shoulder and tracing his strong hands over her sides. She shivered slightly; it was good to feel like someone wanted her occasionally. Sometimes she really felt like she was losing all her appeal. Park’s hands slid slowly up her shirt and she arched into his touch. Her arms reached up and grasped his broad, muscular back, pulling him closer to her. This was what she needed; it had been far too long. Her head tilted to the side as she gave him greater access to the section of her neck that he was attacking. 

Then she saw those dark, sexy eyes staring back at her from under the blue Yankee’s hat on her wall.

No.

This wasn’t right. 

She immediately shoved Park Taehwan back off of her on the couch, sending him off kilter and crashing to the floor. He stared at her with a puzzled expression.

“Did-did I hurt you?” he stuttered out.

“No…” Sun Ye mumbled back. “This isn’t right. We can’t do this.”

Park jumped up to his feet and stared at Sun Ye in shock. 

“What do you mean that wasn’t right? You are my girlfriend. Touching you, being with you is right. We’ve been dating for over a year Sun Ye. I think it is time that-“

“…we broke up,” Sun Ye finished his sentence weakly.

His jaw dropped as he stared at his new ex-girlfriend. This was not how he had pictured their rare day off going at all.

“What?! I think that is a bit radical. I mean, we should talk about this. Breaking up just on a whim like that… that sort of thing is what wouldn’t feel right.”

Sun Ye stared over Park’s shoulder at the poster hanging on the wall. It was the same as all the other times she had looked at it; completely still, dark eyes hiding behind the frayed bangs. 

“I’m sorry, you are a really great guy. I’m sure some girl will jump at the chance to date you right away.”

“I think we have been dating a little too long for you to give me the standard ‘sorry to dump you’ speech, Sun Ye,” he said bitterly. “I’ll just get out of your hair then, since you feel so wrong being with me.”

He walked over to the couch and grabbed his jacket off the back of it. Sun Ye didn’t even raise her eyes to look at him. She knew that she might have been unduly harsh to the poor guy. He really was sweet. Most guys wouldn’t have waited as long as he did to try and make a move on her. She honestly had been lucky to have him, but that didn’t mean it was… right.

Park waited next to the couch with his jacket in hand for a few seconds, obviously waiting for Sun Ye to make some kind of move to stop him. She continued to stare quietly at the poster on the wall, trying her hardest not to look at the man she was pushing out of her life. With a disappointed sigh he shouldered his jacket and walked quickly out the door. 

 

Sun Ye lifted her arm off her eyes and glanced once more at the motionless image of Yubin on her wall. It didn’t take a genius to tell her why being with Park Taehwan didn’t feel ‘right.’ Especially not when the answer was staring down at her from her wall. Sun Ye shook her head lightly. She had a definite headache coming on from all of this. 

“I totally saw Swimming Trunks Park storming out of the building while I was on my way to the elevators,” came a voice in her entranceway. “You guys should keep your dramatic exits to a minimum or next thing you know the tabloids will be printing an article about your ridiculous breakup.”

The singer propped herself up on her elbows on the couch to see into her kitchen. She instantly spotted Ye Eun taking off her shoes and walking towards the living room. Urgh. She wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Her fight with Park had only been moments earlier; it didn’t seem fair to start talking about it so soon. However, Ye Eun was her best friend. No matter how silly she could sometimes be, she would always help her through the rough patches in her life.

“His name is Taehwan, not Swimming Trunks Park. And we did have a ridiculous breakup just minutes before you got here,” Sun Ye admitted as she fell back onto the couch again. 

“Whoa! Wait. What?” Ye Eun spluttered out as she towered over her friend on the couch.

“We just broke up,” Sun Ye muttered from underneath a couch pillow.

Ye Eun reached down and pulled the offending object off Sun Ye’s face and threw it across the room. Her friend looked guiltily up at her from the couch and Ye Eun felt all of her resistance and shock fading. With a sigh she picked up her friend’s legs to make room for a spot to sit down. Once she was settled onto the couch she let Sun Ye’s legs fall back into place on top of her. 

“Okay, so I really doubt you just decided to kill a one year relationship for no apparent reason,” Ye Eun reasoned slowly. 

Sun Ye’s eyes couldn’t help but drift up to her new living room decoration as she thought of the reason why she had just made Park so very sad. Ye Eun noticed her friend’s intense gaze and followed her eyes to see what was so interesting. 

“Oh my goodness… Please tell me your new interior decorating choices involving your tremendous EX of a girlfriend do not have to do with this.”

The smaller girl’s eyes just shifted back to her best friend, guilt written all over her face. Ye Eun sighed in exasperation.

“Why did you even put that up on your wall anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Sun Ye said softly. “I saw it online and next thing I knew I was hanging it up on the wall.”

Ye Eun poked at her friend’s legs as they lay on her lap. She had been so happy for Sun Ye when she started going out with Park Taehwan. He was a nice guy and it was good to see her finally move on from Yubin. Yet judging from her recent spontaneous purchase it would appear that Sun Ye was definitely still a little hung up on her first love. 

“I hope you weren’t making out with the poster frame or something when he walked in,” Ye Eun tried to joke.

“Mmm… more like I was staring at it when he was doing things to me that should have been far more interesting and distracting,” Sun Ye mumbled.

Ye Eun blinked at her friend. Sun Ye just covered her blushing cheeks with her arm again, retreating away from her line of sight.

“Please tell me you weren’t thinking of Yubin when your total hunk of a boyfriend was doing naughty things to you,” Ye Eun deadpanned.

“I wasn’t thinking of her long,” Sun Ye mumbled into her arm. “Since I basically kicked him out right after that.”

“First of all, I thought you were finally over that ‘girls phase’ of your life. Second of all, hot guys are totally wasted on you wishy washy lesbians. I could have been making out with that babe of a swimmer, but noooo he had to date Miss Sexually Confused.”

Sun Ye kicked out her leg on Ye Eun’s lap and smacked the other girl in the side of the head. Ye Eun glared at her friend before breaking into laughter. 

“Okay sorry, sorry! I know you hate it when I call you gay. It’s not like it is true anyway. You obviously only have eyes for one girl.”

The singer rolled her eyes as she let her best friend continue poking her legs playfully. As much as she hated to admit it, Ye Eun’s lighthearted attitude always did seem to make situations seem less dire. Even her headache was feeling a little better now, but she still didn’t know what to do with all her free time today. She definitely didn’t want to spend the rest of her day wallowing on her couch, staring at the impassive image of Yubin on her wall. Sun Ye shot a pleading look at her best friend, hoping she would get the message without her having to explain herself. Ye Eun quirked an eyebrow back at her and immediately seemed to realize what her friend wanted.

“Okay fine, I can get you out of your apartment for the night. I have a function that I have to go to for that new album by Tiff and Jes that I helped compose. When I opened the invite it said I could bring a friend. It is why I was crashing your apartment today anyway. I didn’t really want to go alone.”

“Urgh. Is this one of those drinks and mingling things?” Sun Ye asked as she crinkled her nose in disgust.

“Hey look Little Miss Judgmental, I’m giving you a way out of your apartment for the night. If you don’t want to take it, then that is on your head not mine,” Ye Eun said with a huff.

These parties always involved the same annoying record executives that she had to deal with all the time in her singer life. She really didn’t want to have to see these sorts of people on her day off too.

“What would it take to get you to leave this apartment and come to the party with me?”

“A shoulder to lean on for the rest of the night and a lot of free booze at the party,” Sun Ye said sarcastically back.

“And if I could promise you both of those?”

Sun Ye let her head slam back down into the couch cushions. These sorts of parties were definitely not her favorite kind of scene. She had to go to them often enough for her own album releases; she really didn’t want to have to go to Ye Eun’s as well. However, Ye Eun always came to her soirees to make them feel less painful, so really this was the least she could do for her friend. Besides, the thought of free alcohol tonight suddenly seemed very appealing somehow. 

“Black dress or blue dress?” Sun Ye asked impatiently.

“Oh you know you look just darling in the black dress!” Ye Eun said enthusiastically.

Sun Ye frowned slightly. Yubin definitely would have picked the blue dress. 

No.

No more thinking about Yubin this evening. Tonight she was going to try and forget all over again.

 

 

Sun Ye took a swig of her champagne glass and leaned back against the wall again. The party was exactly what she had expected; a bunch of record label suits rubbing elbows with different singers and stars, trying to get them to switch companies and make them some money. Ye Eun must have worked some sort of magic before they had arrived though because despite the fact that she was by far the biggest name star at the soiree, no one had actually come over to nag her. There had just been one mousy guy and Sun Ye shot him a glare that showed exactly how much she didn’t want to talk to people tonight and the poor man had scurried off again. 

Originally Ye Eun was supposed to stay with her all night long, as per their agreement, but the composer was quickly dragged off to thank some of the production people. She had tried to drag her best friend with her, but Sun Ye didn’t feel like dealing with anyone tonight. If that meant she was alone playing the awkward wallflower on the party wall, so be it. 

She swirled the last bit of champagne around in the glass before chugging it down. At least Ye Eun had held up that end of the bargain. There was indeed a whole cart covered in drinks for all the partygoers. Usually Sun Ye avoided drinking altogether, especially at these sorts of things, but tonight was definitely not your average night. She walked from her spot against the wall to grab another full glass of champagne, possibly her seventh tonight, but she honestly wasn’t even sure at this point. The alcohol was finally doing its trick and was blurring her thoughts appropriately.

Without Ye Eun to talk to she was left with her own hazy thoughts. This had resulted in her just hanging back against the wall and watching all the people around her. A majority of them were useless executives whom she had already written off in her mind. No need to give them a second thought. Yet in between those masses of people there were others who were not as frustrating to watch. 

 

“Sun Ye, I know you are all for the idea of having a real relationship with love and caring and everything, but maybe it would be for the best if you just got a little uh… rebound action,” Ye Eun suggested with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“Excuse me?” Sun Ye said with distain. “In what universe would I ever consider doing that?”

“I’m just saying, you need to get out of your own head for a little bit. Try finding a cute girl at the party.”

Sun Ye glared at her friend next to her in the car. 

“Or a hot guy!” Ye Eun corrected herself quickly. “Whatever floats your boat!”

 

“Stupid Ye Eun,” Sun Ye muttered. “I can check out anyone I want.”

Her eyes searched for those few bearable people in the crowds of fancy clothes all around her. There certainly wasn’t a lack of eligible, attractive people here. She should have no trouble picking someone out that could be her rebound, or however Ye Eun had so indelicately phrased it. 

A tall man in a well-cut suit walked slowly in front of her to pour himself a new drink at the open bar. His hair fell playfully in front of his face and he smiled as he heard his friend tell some sort of joke. By any sort of normal standards he would be the kind of guy that a girl would jump upon; gorgeous, good personality, and obviously well off. 

“Not what I am looking for,” Sun Ye whispered to herself.

Maybe Ye Eun was right. Maybe she really wasn’t into guys anymore. Perhaps when Park finally did try and touch her it was just that final bit of proof her mind needed to know that she didn’t want to be with men now. Deep down Sun Ye still wasn’t sure if she was gay really, but she certainly didn’t want to be with a man right now. 

She continued to visually pick her way through the party goers, her gaze finally landing on a pretty girl near the h’orderves table. She was definitely a knockout; even Sun Ye couldn’t deny that. She was tall, easily an inch or two above most of the other girls at the party. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, contrasting nicely with her rather pale skin. Sun Ye knew her manager would definitely rate this girl as a ten, but she didn’t seem to be having much of a reaction to the supermodel figure in front of her. 

Sun Ye sighed to herself. 

“Maybe I’m just broken…”

“Broken from what? Did you fall?” a bored voice came from her side.

Sun Ye glanced at her side and she saw Jessica Jung standing there with two glasses of champagne in her hands. The blonde quirked an eyebrow up at Sun Ye and held out the fresh glass to her. Sun Ye gratefully accepted it to replace her once again empty one.

“You seemed to be a little bored over here, so I figured I would come keep you company,” the blonde said, her mellow voice just barely audible over the bustle of the party. 

“I guess I was just feeling a little lonely.”

“Really?” Jessica asked with a smirk. “Cause those ten or so glasses of champagne seemed to be keeping you company well enough.”

Sun Ye threw her head back and laughed; her first genuine action of the night. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m on about number six myself. But I’ve been adding something stronger to mine,” Jessica added.

The blonde girl sipped at her champagne glass and nodded at Sun Ye. She tipped the glass up to her mouth and could taste the alcohol burning her throat on the way down. Yeah. That was definitely stronger. Sun Ye coughed slightly after the sip. Jessica just smirked at her and continued to drink her ‘champagne.’

“Wow does Tiffany know that you are doing this? Or over here with me and not mingling?” Sun Ye said harshly as she let another sip of the drink burn its way down. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Jessica said apathetically. “She loves these sorts of parties, but I hate them. Every time we have one of these events for a CD release she has to come up with a way to bribe me to even come to them. In the end, I usually end up just trying to make them more fun for myself.”

“With copious amounts of alcohol?”

Jessica snickered lightly as she watched the people walking by them. 

“Sometimes. And sometimes I do what you were just doing.”

“And what was I just doing?” Sun Ye asked cautiously. 

“Oh please. You can drop the innocent act, Sun Ye. I’m not blind and I totally saw you checking out that girl at the h’orderves table.”

Sun Ye blushed and ducked her head. Okay this wasn’t a part of herself that she really wanted to talk about with a rival singer at a release party she didn’t even want to be at in the first place. Jessica seemed to be totally cool about it though. Sun Ye glanced furtively at her side to take in the view of Jessica sipping her mixed drink and watching the people mingle. She had to admit; the girl was definitely a notch above the rest. 

 

If you had to pick an ideal type of girl what would it be?” Sun Ye turned and asked Yubin as they sat next to each other on her bed.

“You mean like who I would most like to date? Is this a trick question?” Yubin asked suspiciously.

“No,” Sun Ye hit her girlfriend’s arm playfully. “Like what kind of girl usually catches your eye when you walk down the street?”

Yubin thought carefully for a minute before responding.

“I think I really like girls that are exotic. You know, like blondes or something like that. Someone like Jessica from Girls’ Generation. She dyed her hair blonde and now she looks so hot!”

Sun Ye glared at Yubin when she heard the answer.

“None of that remotely sounds like me.”

The rapper chuckled as her girlfriend pouted next to her. She snuggled closer to Sun Ye and wrapped her arms around her. Even a simple touch like that could make Sun Ye melt back into complacency. 

“There is an exception to every rule,” Yubin whispered into her ear.

 

Sun Ye let Yubin’s words play through her head as she stared at Jessica’s profile. Yubin was right. The girl was absolutely gorgeous. There was a slight tickle inside her. Huh. Sun Ye wasn’t sure what that was, but it was the first reaction she had gotten tonight from checking out all these people. Although that might have been because of the drink she had just finished off. Jessica’s eyes darted to the side and a smile curled onto her face as she caught Sun Ye examining her. 

“How about we ditch some of these losers?” Jessica said quietly.

“What exactly are you suggesting?” Sun Ye asked, very intrigued at what Jessica was proposing. 

“Don’t worry. I know a place.”

Jessica grabbed her hand and stumbled away with Sun Ye in tow. She weaved through the crowds, brushing off people who tried to talk to her about her new album. Sun Ye just ducked her head so people wouldn’t recognize her and try and talk to her too. After weaving to the other side of the room, Jessica glanced around to make sure no one was watching them too carefully and then opened a small door on the back wall and ducked inside it, pulling Sun Ye with her. It was a small room, dimly lit and filled with coats. 

“This is where the wait staff puts everyone’s jackets. I found it a few release parties ago since SME always uses the same floor to hold these silly things. When they get particularly unbearable I usually come in here and take a nap,” Jessica explained. 

“What a party animal you are,” Sun Ye said with a giggle. 

“I have my moments,” Jessica said with a pout as she collapsed onto the ground, dragging Sun Ye down with her. 

They both laughed as they tried to untangle their limbs, brushing into all the coats that hung around and over them. It really was like a secret hideaway from the mass of people outside. She definitely hadn’t seen something like this happening on her day off. 

“Hah this is much better. I hate being forced to mingle with all those people out there. I get enough of that at JYPE. They always make me talk with these executives to build new connections in the company. Makes it easier to get them to sign a business contract when they can get an autograph from a famous singer for their kids,” Sun Ye said with a sigh. 

Jessica pulled a small flask out of nowhere. Sun Ye gave her a questioning look at how she managed to hide that in her formfitting burgundy dress. The blonde didn’t say anything in response and instead just took a swig from the container before passing it to Sun Ye. She looked at it for a second before chugging some herself. It scorched her throat again. Sun Ye definitely had never had this much to drink before in her whole life. She was probably going to regret it in the morning, but for now she was willing to just follow Jessica’s lead. Ye Eun had been telling her to forget about everything and live a little tonight. This seemed just about as good a way as any to accomplish that goal. 

“Come on, you must have similar experiences with SM Entertainment,” Sun Ye prodded as she passed the flask back to Jessica. 

Jessica stared off into space blankly for a few seconds.

“I hate BoA,” she said quietly.

Sun Ye let the words sink in for a second. Huh. That wasn’t exactly an answer to her question, but she couldn’t help but smile at it. Before she knew it she was rocking with laughter and leaning against the blonde for support. 

“Was that the Sica Effect that they always talk about?” Sun Ye said as she shook from laughter.

Jessica clung just as hard to Sun Ye, grinning like a fool. 

“If it was then I don’t know why you are actually laughing. I’ve never had people laugh over them before.”

“Well I really have had a lot of encouragement from both you and the free drink cart to get to this point,” Sun Ye replied, wiping a few tears away from her eyes.

“In America, I think at this point we would call you totally ‘trashed,” Jessica said in English. 

Sun Ye stopped laughing as she heard the English drip off Jessica’s tongue. There was just something about the language that just flicked a switch inside of her. She turned slightly in Jessica’s clutches and stared into the blonde girl’s eyes. Jessica watched her carefully, tightening her grip slightly around Sun Ye’s shoulder. Sun Ye took in the small singer’s full lips and the sensation inside turned into a small fire. Okay, that was definitely the first real reaction her body had gotten tonight from anyone, boy or girl. The black haired girl from before was now just a shadow in the back of her mind. 

What the hell. Ye Eun had said forget everything. Who was she to disobey her best friend’s good advice? Sun Ye brought her lips crashing into Jessica’s as she pushed her down to the floor of the coat room. Jessica responded instantly, fumbling only slightly to shift her arms down from Sun Ye’s shoulders down to her waist. The motions were all the same as what she had done with Park earlier, but they already felt better on the slightly dusty space under the curtain of coats. Jessica broke away from the kiss and moved her lips to Sun Ye’s jaw. Sun Ye took to moment of respite to lean in to Jessica’s hair. 

“Keep speaking to me in English,” she whispered urgently.

Jessica froze in her motions slightly at the odd request. Did Sun Ye have some sort of thing for foreign languages? That was a little bizarre, but the mix of alcohol and Sun Ye’s touches were encouraging her to just go with the flow. 

“Anything you want, Princess,” Jessica growled back in English as she captured Sun Ye’s mouth with her own again. 

Sun Ye pressed herself flush up against Jessica and let her hands wander up the slit in the side of Jessica’s dress. All the skin her fingers brushed against was silky smooth, just like she would expect from someone who was constantly in the public eye. Jessica’s hand fumbled with the zipper on the back of her dress, mumbling random statements in English into Sun Ye’s mouth. There was something undeniably sexy about doing this in the coat room with basically the top solo artist in Korea. Jessica knew that she probably shouldn’t be messing around like this, but the encouragement from her mixed drinks was definitely overriding her common sense functions right now. 

“I love it when you talk to me like that in English,” Sun Ye murmured into her mouth as she dove in to deepen their kiss.

Jessica mentally smirked as she ran her fingers down Sun Ye’s smooth back. Sun Ye was the idol of all of Korea right now, but she certain had some odd turn ons. At least this was something Jessica was definitely willing to do for her. Sun Ye’s hand slid further up the slit in her skirt, brushing near some very key areas. The blonde moaned into Sun Ye’s mouth as the girl’s hand continued to work its magic. 

“God I never would have thought you capable of something like this,” Jessica hissed into Sun Ye’s ear. “You always seemed like an unreachable idol to me.”

The girl on top of her just moaned seductively.

“Mmm… Yubin.”

Jessica’s eyes snapped open at that. Did Sun Ye just moan a name that wasn’t hers? No, scratch that. Did Sun Ye just moan the name of her ex-groupmate? That would explain her thing for English being spoken to her. This had gone from sexy to… just plain interesting in two seconds flat. 

The blonde pulled Sun Ye’s hand out from under her skirt and pushed the girl up off of her. Sun Ye sat on the group unsteadily, face flushed, but obviously willing to continue where they had left off. Jessica reached around and zipped the other girl’s dress up again and patted some dust off her clothes.

“Yubin, why are you stopping?” Sun Ye questioned sadly.

Now it was definitely going from interesting to awkward. Jessica stared at Sun Ye’s unfocused eyes. The girl was obviously a lightweight drinker and alcohol seemed to have a very aphrodisiac property over her. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue for Jessica, but when they started saying other girls’ names it definitely took the fun out of it. 

“Look at pale I am, Sun Ye,” Jessica said as she held up her arm in front of the other girl. “I’m not nearly the dark-skinned rapper that is apparently on your mind.”

Sun Ye slumped forward and buried her head in Jessica’s shoulder. Her arms encircled her waist, caressing all the skin they could touch. Jessica bristled slightly in her arms. Nope. Coat closet play time was over for sure.

Just on queue the door to the closet opened and Ye Eun poked her head inside. Jessica let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Sun Ye’s best friend.

“Hey have you seen Sun Ye around?” Ye Eun asked worridly.

Jessica nodded her head at the girl who was latched onto her waist. 

“Ooooh I see,” Ye Eun said with a smirk. “Well I’ll just leave you two alon-“

“No! No!” Jessica whispered angrily. “Get her off of me! I think she might have had a little bit too much to drink.”

Ye Eun gave a questioning look to the blonde. Sun Ye wasn’t much of a drinker. It was very out of character for her to get drunk at a party. In fact, Ye Eun had never heard of Sun Ye getting drunk ever. She peered more closely at her friend who was obviously trying to get the unsettled looking blonde out of her dress. Okay. That was definitely out of character. Ye Eun moved over to her friend and gave her a solid tug to get her off of Jessica. Her friend let go unwillingly and stumbled to her feet to lean on Ye Eun. 

“Geez Sun Ye! Just how much did you drink?!” Ye Eun whined as Sun Ye put all her weight on her. 

Jessica finally stood up, brushing a few dust bunnies off of herself. She took a few steps back out of Sun Ye’s reach and gave a slightly guilty look to the redhead.

“Well, I might have been somewhat to blame for her losing count…”

Ye Eun glared at the other girl as she swatted at Sun Ye’s wandering hands. The one time she left Sun Ye alone at one of these parties and the ice princess tried to get into her dress. Now Ye Eun was going to have to figure out a way to get Sun Ye out of the party before news of the national idol’s drunken, gropey hands got out to the public. 

“Hey so that’s where you guys have been hiding!” Tiffany said cheerfully as she poked her head into the closet.

“Stop being so freaking cheerful and get in here to help us out!” Ye Eun yelled at the valley girl. 

Tiffany smiled brightly as she stepped into the closet and shut the door behind herself. She took a few tentative strides into the room and watched as Ye Eun tried to keep Sun Ye’s hands away from her. 

“I’m not like sure this is the sort of thing that I should be here for,” Tiffany said with a grin.

Ye Eun glared at the happy brunette.

“We need to get her out of here and she is far too drunk to be seen in public. And she really won’t stop- OH MY GOD best friends don’t touch their best friends there Sun Ye!”

Jessica covered a smirk up with her hand as she watched Ye Eun try and push her friend further away. Sun Ye was going to have a really awkward morning when she found out who she had been touching. 

“Although this is absolutely hilarious, I do have a something that will force her to keep her hands to herself,” Tiffany said with a chuckle.

The girl pulled a pair of pink silk handcuffs out of her pocket. Ye Eun’s jaw dropped as she stared at the silver object hanging off of Tiffany’s fingertip. Jessica just looked intrigued. And Sun Ye tried to slip her hand up Ye Eun’s blouse.

Ye Eun yanked the handcuffs out of Tiffany’s grasp.

“I don’t even care at this point; I just want it to stop!”

Tiffany let out a musical laugh as Ye Eun tried to wrestle Sun Ye’s hands into submission long enough to put the constraints on her. 

“Why do you even have these on you anyway!?” Ye Eun yelled.

“Sometimes Jessica needs a little reward for putting up with these functions,” Tiffany said in her sugar sweet voice.

Jessica let a small smirk appear on her face. Ye Eun just rolled her eyes. One day she would be able to work with people who weren’t sex crazed lesbians. This industry was almost too much for her sometimes. Tiffany leaned into her blonde partner and put her arm around her. 

“Don’t worry, we will get them back from Ye Eun once she gets Sun Ye in the car.”

Ye Eun shuddered and tore a coat down off of a nearby hanger. She honestly didn’t care about who it belonged to at all. Right now she just wanted to get the hell out of here. She tossed the coat over Sun Ye to cover her up slightly and pushed her towards the door.

“You guys were totally not helpful to my fun night out for Sun Ye. And if you ever want to see these handcuffs again you bette-“

 

 

“Wait! WHAT?! Why the hell would you tell me this story!” I yelled at Sun Ye.

Sun Ye just scooted closer to me on the couch with a smirk.

“Hey. You are the one who had to know the truth behind the Jessica story.”

I pushed Sun Ye off of me in a huff. So I had nagged her a few dozen times. Some things were better left unsaid. Okay, granted; I did have a lot of stories about all the Americans I had spent the night with when we were split up, but that didn’t mean I needed to hear the entire play-by-play of her touching Jessica inappropriately in a coat room. 

“Yeah, but you never said that there were handcuffs involved!”

“Wow you are literally green with jealousy,” Sun Ye said with a grin. “This is even sweeter than I thought it would be. Now you know vaguely what I feel like when you get all those phone calls from your exes.”

Yeah. But I wasn’t wearing handcuffs when I was with them. I shuddered slightly at the thought of where that story might have even ended up. Nope. Didn’t want to know. 

“Oh come on, just look on the bright side!” Sun Ye suggested.

I glared at her. Bright side? Was there a bright side to this? I thought a little harder and a grin broke out on my face.

“How pissed was Ye Eun in the morning that you touched her inappropriately?” I asked happily.

Sun Ye smiled back and crept closer on the couch. She lowered herself down on me and pressed a light kiss to my mouth.

“Very upset,” she whispered with a grin. “She mentioned something about a hospital decontamination shower I believe.”


	3. Make the Distance that Much Smaller

Sidestory #3 - Make the Distance that Much Smaller

 

BZZT BZZT BZZT BZZT

My arm flicked out and hit the alarm. Urgh. Waking up at 6AM today just didn't feel right. My sleep addled mind tried to sort through what made today different from any other work day. I always had to get up this early organize interviews and do whatever Joe decided to dish out to me for the day. My head turned lazily on my pillow to glance at the glowing green numbers on the clock. What was it about today...

Oh. Right. 

Today was my birthday. I was now a whopping twenty-four years old. Sure it didn't seem so bad at first, but really that was almost a quarter of a century. Time sure had flown by fast. 

I blinked up at the ceiling and tried to see if I felt any different. My hand traced a circle on my bed sheets, but no major moment hit me saying that I definitely was twenty-four. All it really seemed to be drawing attention to was my large, empty bed. Urgh. Nope. Not letting my thoughts go that way on my birthday. Being so old was depressing enough. 

With a kick of my legs, I jumped up out of bed and made my way into the kitchen. I filled up the kettle and put it on the stove to make my morning tea. Maybe I would go out today and treat myself to some new exotic flavors of tea for my birthday. It really was what filled my morning with excitement now, especially since I didn't get to wake up next to a certain special someone anymore. 

Urgh. Okay. So there was no avoiding thinking of Sun Ye in the morning, especially not on my birthday. She had already called me wishing me happy birthday slightly in advance due to the time zone difference and also sent me a silly emailed greeting card with some sort of kitten on it. Those were touching in their own special ways, but I really wanted something else on my birthday this year; her. It had been several months since the last time we had been able to see each other and it still felt like so much longer than that. Def Jam was preparing for my upcoming song release though so I wasn't going to be getting any big breaks any time soon. Sun Ye was in the same position in Korea, her new album was due to drop next month and she was running around like crazy trying to finish off the final tracks for it. 

Which left me in my apartment. Alone. On my birthday. 

I sighed as I prepared my morning tea. Sure, I was back to my normal morning routine, but it wasn't nearly as much fun without Sun Ye. I missed waking up next to her, watching the news together, and even the smell of her coffee. My eyes glanced at the empty coffee maker on my countertop and I lifted out the pot to fill it with water. I didn't like coffee, it was far too bitter. Yet today I had the overwhelming urge to at least smell Sun Ye's favorite drink again. Sure it might be wasteful to make a pot of coffee just to pour it out later, but I had money to burn. Really, if the only frivolous thing I was doing with my music money was pouring coffee down the sink drain I was probably okay.

The coffeepot snapped back into place as I let the coffee percolate. I picked my mug of tea off of the countertop and headed out into the living room. Time to move on to the next part of my boring morning routine. With a gulp of tea I reached down and scooped up the television remote to turn on the morning entertainment news. I collapsed onto the couch and let the MTV reporters' voices wash over me.

"Today was the release day of Beyonce's new album. It easily shot up to number one on the charts, but despite that fact it isn't the center of the entertainment gossip. What really has people in the music community talking is a special party going on at the O Club in downtown New York City tonight."

"Oh really? What is this party for?" the other reporter asked cheekily.

The pretty blonde reporter smiled back at her partner with a knowing grin.

"Come on now. Everyone knows that tonight is power rapper Yubin's first birthday party. She has shied away from having large parties in the past and hasn't even attended many other events in the industry. Yubin has basically been known for her squeaky clean image, except for that little gay scandal she had which all worked out for the best. She is a strong, positive role model and a lot of people are really excited to see what kind of birthday party she will be throwing."

"I can't wait to see what is going to happen at the O Club myself," the male reporter joked back.

"Hah nice try, but the event is invite only. No one will be getting in there without being on the golden girl's guest list. I somehow doubt that she even knows your name, let alone invited you to her first big party."

My eyebrow twitched slightly. Huh. Well this was interesting news.

I leaned off of the couch to grab my cell phone off of the coffee table. My fingers hit my first speed dial and put the phone up expectantly to my ear.

"Oh well good morning birthday girl!" Joe's cheery voice rang out. "Hope you get some awesome presents on today, this joyous anniversary of your birth!"

"Actually I did get this one really bizarre present. When I turned on the news I found out that I was apparently throwing this giant party in downtown New York tonight!"

I could practically hear Joe sweating under his collar over the phone. 

"Ooooh. So you uh... found out about that huh?"

"Uh yeah I did Joe," I said angrily. "Were you even going to tell me about this before tonight?!"

"I could say that I wasn't telling you about it because I wanted it to be a surprise party. But the truth is that I knew that if I told you about it you would just run the other direction and not show up at all. Def Jam wants to promote your new song in as many ways as possible, and you getting on the news through a big shindig for your birthday is as good a way as any. They still aren't thrilled about that spontaneous trip to Korea you took back at the beginning of summer."

"So you are saying I basically owe them this?"

"Yeah. I would just let this one slide," Joe said quietly.

I sighed loudly into the phone. My birthday was just getting better and better by the minute. 

"Man... Joe I hate these sorts of things," I mumbled.

"Yeah I know Yubin. I hate them too. Just show up for a few hours, enough for people to talk about it. Then you can slip out unnoticed. Trust me, I'll be right there behind you. No one will ever even notice we are gone."

"I'm gonna hold you to that Joe. And you better not have invited a ton of the girls I've had flings with just to be funny."

"Oh don't worry, I just used that little black book you have in your bedroom and invited all the girls in that," he said back.

I hated it when Joe tried to play cute like that. Especially on a day when I was already not in a good mood. It was my freaking birthday. Come on.

"Um that was a joke. I didn't invite those girls. Do you seriously have a black book like that with all your exe-"

"Goodbye Joe!" I yelled into my phone as I snapped it shut.

This was definitely going on my list as one of my worst birthdays ever.

 

\-------------

 

I stared out at the pulsing dance floor. Everyone was bouncing to the beat of the remix to one of my older songs. They all lost themselves to the music and seemed totally oblivious to everything around them besides the song and the pulsing dance floor. Normally I really enjoyed this sort of scene, but I wasn't exactly in the mood. Nor was I in the right sort of company. 

Joe had obviously tried his hardest to invite people that I didn't blatantly dislike in the industry, but it didn't mean everyone who was at the party was a friend of mine. Most of them were other artists and singers that I had crossed paths with at some point, but that didn't mean that we were particularly tight knit. It didn't really matter in the end; none of them were here for me, despite the fact that it was for my birthday. They just wanted to drink, dance, and party the night away. I almost wished I could be dancing out there and enjoying myself too, but there was only one person I really wanted to be grinding up against in this club. Dammit. This birthday was terrible.

"Hey Yubin!" a voice was barely audible over the booming bass of my song. "Happy 24th!"

Yes. Finally a voice I was okay with hearing tonight. I turned and smiled at my number one fanboy, Jake. He grinned back and looked absolutely thrilled to have been invited to my birthday party. Well at least this night made one person happy. Joe had definitely done a good job by inviting Jake.

"Jake! At last someone I am glad to see!" I said happily.

He blushed lightly at my kind words and shuffled nervously.

"Um I never in a million years thought that I would actually get invited. It was really nice of you to put the two heads of your fan club on your guest list. Everyone online was so excited that you actually let fans attend. The news said that it was gonna be super elite, with only the biggest names in the music industry! I was getting a drink at the bar and Lady Gaga walked up to me!"

"Oh really?" I said in a slightly agitated voice. Joe had said he didn't invite exes. What a jerk. "I hadn't noticed. I don't actually know most of these people. And you are the first person to actually say happy birthday to me at all."

Jake looked a little surprised at that. The boy was so innocent about the actual nature of the music industry. It really made me a little sad to think that I might have shattered some of his delicate illusions. Wait. My mind flashed back to what he had just told me.

"Hold on, did you say two heads of my fan site?"

"Oh yeah! I brought the vice president of yubin-unite with me tonight!"

He pushed the girl who had been standing next to him forward. She stumbled slightly over her own feet, obviously just as nervous as Jake usually was to see me. I waited patiently for her to introduce herself to me with a grin on my face. I had the cutest fans sometimes, despite the fact that most saw me as a hardcore rapper.

"Um hi," she managed to get out as she adjusted her glasses. "My name is Helen. I'm a giant fan of yours. You have no idea how much of an inspiration you are for my own writing and ... um... I probably sound like all the crazy fangirls who talk to you, huh?"

I chuckled lightly in the dark club and patted her on the shoulder.

"Nah, most fans can't manage that many words when they meet me. And nice accent by the way."

 

Even in the darkness of the club I could see the blush coloring the girl's cheeks at my touch. 

"She's Australian," Jake said knowingly.

"I also think you are hot," she stammered out.

I blinked at her for a second before laughing over the blaring dance music. 

"Okay now you sound like all my crazy fangirls. But thank you." 

The two of them grinned back at me, obviously beyond thrilled to be here. It really did make me happy that at least they were enjoying the evening here. Sometimes it was all too easy to forget about my fans. Def Jam didn't exactly make it easy for me to go out and meet them at events. I usually had far too much security around me for that.

"Honestly guys, it is nice to see some friendly faces here tonight. Sometimes these parties can be a bit of a drag," I said gratefully.

Before I could talk to them any more, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. As much as I liked my fans, I really wanted any excuse to get out of this party early. And if some sort of emergency phone call could do that, I was totally not going to pass up the opportunity. I pointed to my cell phone and stepped away from my two biggest fans to take the call.

"Hello?" I yelled into the phone.

"Finally you pick up! I've been calling you for minutes now!" Ye Eun said with a yawn. "And after I was gracious enough to wake up early to wish you happy birthday."

"Did you call me just to make me feel guilty for getting older?" I joked with Ye Eun.

"Whatever. I could have slept in more, but I decided to call and make sure you got your birthday present from me."

"Um I never got a present from you," I yelled into the phone, trying to hear Ye Eun over the loud club music.

"Huh? I can't hear you. It's really loud there. You must be partying up a storm."

"Hold on," I shouted back as I walked across the busy dance floor.

I pushed my way through the hundreds of bodies grinding to the beat of the music towards the exit. A call from my friend in Korea was a rare enough occurrence that I could justify answering it if anyone asked where I was going. My shoulder pushed against the heavy door to the club and I took in a deep breath of the cool outside air... 

...and let my eyes fall on the beautiful sight in front of me.

"Hey Yubin," Sun Ye greeted me with a beaming smile. "For some reason this security guard says I'm not on your guest list."

My jaw dropped uselessly as I took in the very welcome sight of my girlfriend standing in front of the bouncer in her nicest clubbing clothes.

"Happy Birthday Yubin," Ye Eun said, her smirk completely audible over the phone. "Enjoy your present."

A click resounded in my ear as Ye Eun hung up and I let my arm fall to my side and slid my phone back in my pocket. My birthday was already at least fifty times better now, possibly a hundred times better now. I grinned at Sun Ye as I walked up to the bouncer.

"Dude, this girl is with me," I informed him as I grabbed Sun Ye's hand to bring her inside the club.

Sun Ye intertwined her fingers with mine and let me drag her along behind me into the safe darkness of the club. I didn't stop walking until we had made it to a nice corner of the club, away from all the annoying, unwanted guests. As soon as we were relatively alone I wrapped her up in my arms and buried my face in her hair, breathing in that beautiful Sun Ye smell.

"Mmm this is better than that coffee I made this morning," I murmured in her hair.

"Um I missed you too," Sun Ye said with confusion. "I don't really understand your coffee comment, but I'll just accept it as you having gone crazy without me."

"You have no idea," I said with my wolfish grin.

I pulled back out of our hug to drink in everything that was Sun Ye. She stared back at me patiently, also examining me. Sometimes being so far apart from each other was hard, but it made us that much happier when we were finally back together. 

Okay. That was enough time for reflection. Now I needed to taste her. I leaned in to kiss Sun Ye and she automatically moved in to follow my lead. Our lips pressed against each other and all the time we had been apart just dissipated. I tilted my head and deepened our kiss, trying to show Sun Ye physically just how much I missed her. She obviously felt the same way I did. Sun Ye dragged her teeth across my lower lip, driving me crazy. If we kept this up I would be having a really great birthday indeed; right in front of several hundred clubbers.

Sun Ye pulled back slightly, noticing my hesitation. We took a few moments to catch our breath after our enthusiastic greeting.

"So how much of this party is actually organized by you?" Sun Ye asked me curiously as I wrapped my arm around her to lead her to the dance floor. 

"I agree with maybe one percent of the guest list. The rest of it was invites to make sure this party made its way into the papers tomorrow."

"And would it help your publicity if you were seen dancing with your girlfriend at this club?" Sun Ye asked slyly.

A giant grin spread across my face as I led Sun Ye into the pulsing dance crowd. 

"I think something that sexy might just make the front page."

 

\----------

 

Sun Ye and I leaned against the bar and watched the crowd continue to move to the beat of another remix of mine. My hand clasped Sun Ye's on top of the bar and I smiled at our intertwined fingers. I wasn't going to let go of her for a second tonight. If I did she might disappear back to Korea and I couldn't allow that to happen. 

"So we danced and mingled with the crowd. You got some pointless presents from people who don't know what you like, but spent enormous amount of money on you anyway. Plus I got to see Jake again and his new girlfriend."

"Yeah, I don't think they are dating," I scoffed over the music. "I think there is far too much rivalry for my affection for that. Did you see the way she almost passed out when she saw the two of us holding hands?"

Sun Ye slapped my arm lightly and I chuckled.

"Stop making fun of the poor girl! She was obviously thrilled to meet you. I have no clue why..."

"Haha," I said sarcastically. "It's my birthday and I don't think you are allowed to make fun of me today. It's in the birthday girl rules. And I still haven't gotten a present from you yet, missy."

She gave me an adorable pout that made my heart skip a beat. 

"My being here isn't present enough?"

"I hear that was Ye Eun's gift to me, however she managed to swing this one."

"Ye Eun is quite good at pulling strings," Sun Ye said with pride.

Sun Ye gave my hand a light squeeze on the surface of the bar. 

"I also have a present for you," she said just barely over the music. "But I don't want to give it to you here in front of everyone else."

Something she couldn't give me in public huh? I arched my eyebrow at her with a smirk on my face. She rolled her eyes at my suggestive look.

"Get your mind out of the gutter Yubin," she scolded me.

I was about to argue back when I saw Joe's perfectly coiffed fauxhawk weaving through the sea of people towards us. Sun Ye smiled as she recognized Joe walking over. Of course. She always talked about how much she missed her teasing buddy. Having the two of them together might not be a good thing. It was my birthday. Weren't people supposed to be nice to me?

"Oh my God Sun!" Joe exclaimed as he ran forward and swept Sun Ye into a hug.

Sun Ye was yanked forward away from the bar we were leaning against and her hand slipped out of mine. I immediately pouted at the loss of contact. Stupid Joe hogging Sun Ye all for himself. Sun Ye must have noticed my pout in the darkness of the club and quickly pushed herself off of Joe.

"Sorry Joe," she apologized as she picked up my hand again. "She is very possessive and gets a little moody when other people touch me."

Joe nodded sympathetically. 

"Oh I know dear, trust me. I'm the one who has to deal with her moods on a daily basis. It's a wonder she has any fans at all with the way she mopes around about you being in Korea."

I glared at my manager. He was making it sound like I was totally dysfunctional without Sun Ye. On some levels this was definitely true, but I definitely wasn't that bad. I mean, everyone had their moments right?

"I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she just sat in her apartment smelling your old clothes and coffee grinds or something like that while thinking of you," Joe continued.

My hand instinctively clenched as Joe hit surprisingly close to home on that one. Damn. I obviously spent too much time with the man. Sun Ye glanced over at me with a smile on her face. I had forgotten that I had been holding her hand when I had reacted to Joe's guess. She probably knew it was true now. 

"Huh, it's funny. Yubin was talking to me earlier about the smell of coffee," Sun Ye teased.

It constantly blew my mind that they could predict me so easily. I really needed to find a new group of people to spend time with, this was ridiculous.

"Okay that's it guys," I interrupted their fun. "It's my birthday and I'm calling an end to 'tag-team mock Yubin' time right now."

Joe laughed and help up his hand for a high five from Sun Ye. She grinned and high fived him with her free hand, much to my annoyance.

"Actually I came over here to let you know that it is time we made our break for it. Plus now that Sun Ye is here I definitely think you should ditch this party. I'm sure you have far better things you could be doing. Don't worry about your things, I'll stay back for an hour to smooth things over. I'll bring all the gifts to the office for you to sort through."

Sometimes Joe could be infuriating and sometimes he was everything I ever wanted in a manager. I turned to Sun Ye and smiled encouragingly at her. Her eyes twinkled back at me. Yeah. We were both ready to get out of here and spend some time alone together.

"Thanks Joe. You are a lifesaver. Like Superman, but gayer."

Joe probably had something bitterly sarcastic to say in response to that, but I never heard it. I was already half way across the dance floor on my way to the exit. Time for my real birthday celebration to begin.

 

\----------

 

I opened the door to my apartment and let Sun Ye inside. She took her shoes off and walked in like she still stayed here with me every day. It made my heart race to know that we could instantly just go back to the way we were all that time ago at the drop of a hat. I watched happily as she walked into the kitchen and stepped on the trash can's switch to open it. Okay, that was a little odd.

"Um, can I help you find something in my garbage?" I asked her jokingly.

She looked up from her examination of my trash and smiled at me.

"There are a lot of coffee grounds in here for someone who doesn't drink that glorious beverage."

A blush flushed on my cheeks as she made her observation. Damn. The girl was good. It wasn't often that she could knock me completely off guard like that. Plus it was just a tad bit embarrassing that she had found out what I did when I missed her. She grinned and strolled back over to me. All of my negative emotions washed away as soon as she placed her hands on my hips comfortingly. 

"I actually think it is adorable that you miss me enough to make coffee just to smell it," she said quietly.

I smiled at her before taking her hand and leading her out to the living room. As much as I loved my sexy kitchen set up, I really didn't want to stand there next to my coffee filled garbage can sweet talking my long absent girlfriend. She let me take her out to the couch and sat down next to me, obviously enjoying being near me again as much as I was. I let her play with my fingers as we sat there leaning against each other on the couch. This was a far better birthday celebration for me. 

"So I heard you have a special birthday present for me," I said huskily.

Sun Ye stopped playing with my fingers and chuckled. 

"You really want it to be something dirty don't you?" she joked back. 

My hand turned in her lap to flick her fingers playfully. I couldn't help that she was leading me on at the club. Plus the fact that I hadn't seen her in months was playing hell with my hormones. She pulled her hand away from mine and reached toward her purse. Once she had it open in her lap she paused.

"Okay you have to promise that you won't laugh or something at it," she warned me. "I mean, I know it is a kinda cheesy gift..."

Her face was totally serious. A smile spread across my face. If she was that worked up about this gift then there was no way I could ever have the heart to make fun of it.

"Sun Ye, whatever it is I'm sure I will love it. If you are getting this upset over it, it must have come from your heart."

Sun Ye smiled and reached into her purse and pulled out a small box. She took a deep breath and pressed it into my hand. I looked at it curiously. It seemed simple enough; just a little, grey box. I glanced up at her for her go-ahead to open my present. Sun Ye just nodded nervously at me. With her permission I clicked open the little box.

Two tiny golden rings lay inside. My breath caught in my chest as I jolted up to look at her. 

"Sun Ye..."

She waved her hands at me as if to brush away any thoughts I was having.

"I-It not a big deal or anything," she stammered out. "I just thought that you know... maybe we could have a pair of couple rings. I know it's not really an American custom and that you don't really wear this kind of jewelry in your job he-"

"I love it," I cut her off.

Her nervousness faded instantly the second she heard the conviction in my voice. It was true. There was something so very perfect about the two of us sharing this sort of thing together. It made me very glad that she hadn't given me my present in the club. This really was the sort of thing that was best done with just the two of us.

"It's not cheesy at all," I whispered to her as I lifted a ring out of the box. "This sort of thing is never really cheesy for the person who receives it."

Sun Ye smiled happily at me as I picked up her hand and slid the golden ring onto her pinky finger. Once it was safely on her hand she pulled the remaining ring out of the box and slid it onto my matching finger. I stared at the glimmering objects as they caught the faint light in my living room. Sun Ye leaned her forehead in against mine and we both just stared down at our hands, fingers playing with each other's once again.

"It makes me sad that we have to live so far apart," she said quietly. "But it all seems worth it when we can share moments like this."

My hand grasped hers. I felt the same way. She knew that. 

"Sooo..." I drawled out slowly. "This time you came to visit me. Does that mean that you get a reward?"

She chuckled and pulled her head away from mine to stare at me with hooded eyes.

"I don't think so. You still have birthday girl priority."

I smirked back at her as I pulled her up off the couch. 

"This really has been an excellent birthday."

 

\------------------

 

I had already decided that I would take Sun Ye back to the hotel she had checked in to when she had arrived in New York City. If she was going to be spending the week in the city there was no way she wasn't going to spend every moment of that with me. We had walked over together, acting almost obnoxiously adorable in a way that Joe most certainly would have mocked us for, and collected her things. It was hard to walk back to my place with her bags, mostly because we really couldn't let go of each other's hands. Whenever I glanced at her I could see her eyes trailing over our matching gold rings and it made a wave of pride swell up inside me. 

Once we made it back to my place we set about making lunch for the two of us. I'm sure my usually empty kitchen was much happier now that it had Sun Ye scurrying around it. The smell of her coffee percolating in the coffee maker already drifted through the apartment and put me at ease. This was better than my lame duplication. I don't even know how I could recognize a difference really; coffee was coffee. Yet somehow my body seemed to know that this coffee smell was Sun Ye coffee smell. That made it all the better.

A grin spread across my face as I watched Sun Ye toss some rice in the frying pan on the stove for lunch. 

"Since you have the kitchen basically under control right now I'm just going to put your stuff in the bedroom okay?"

Sun Ye nodded at me as she went back to focusing on her cooking. I ducked down and grabbed her travel bag and took it back to my bedroom. There was a new dresser in the corner of my room that I had left empty. A little forethought and a lot of wishful thinking had induced me to buy that dresser a few months ago on the hopes that Sun Ye would be able to use it one day. I was definitely more than a little excited to fill it up with her things, even if it was only going to be for a week.

I opened Sun Ye's bag and started filling the drawers with her neatly folded clothing. As I neared the bottom of the bag I found one crinkled up lump of fabric that wasn't kept nearly as meticulous as the rest of her packed clothes. I looked at it curiously as I pulled it out of the bag, the gray fabric unfurling into the form of my long-lost T-shirt. 

Heh. So THAT was where that had gone. I had teased her when it had first disappeared that she was keeping it from me, but I never actually believed it. My fingers smoothed out the fabric as I inspected it. It looked exactly the same as when I had last seen it months ago in Korea with one marked difference. I brought it up to my face and inspected the red tinted smears marring the front of the shirt. Was that lipstick? How would that even have gotten on the shirt?!

A mental image of Sun Ye snuggling with my shirt post-concert flowed unbidden to my mind. Of course. Joe was right. He was always right. We were the two pathetically in love girls who each had their own silly way of coping with the distance. I smiled softly as I stared at my old shirt. It felt good to know that she really was missing me as much as I missed her. 

But that didn't mean that I wasn't going to have some fun with this situation.

I stood up and walked back into the kitchen where Sun Ye was cooking, shirt in hand. She was so intensely focused on her task that she didn't even notice me walk up behind her. 

"Wow, so after months of wondering where it could have gone I finally found my favorite shirt," I said loudly, startling her out of her cooking.

She turned around to face me and her eyes immediately landed on the shirt. I waved it in front of her with a giant smirk on my face. Busted.

"You hid it from me, didn't you?" I asked mischievously.

Sun Ye's cheeks flushed red. She knew I had caught her red-handed. If she made me squirm over the coffee grounds thing then it was only fair that I got to have my fun over this. Her eyes darted nervously to the side as she pouted at me for my accusation.

"N-no. I-I found it after you left Korea."

I arched my eyebrow at her. Weak Sun Ye. I had you cornered now.  
"Really?" I asked with a giggle. "And did you happen to smell my shirt when you missed me? There are a few lipstick smudges on it and I don't remember leaving those on this article of clothing last time I had it." 

The cocky grin spread across my face once again. She wasn't gonna get out of this one. I watched her face tinge even redder as she realized that she really didn't have an excuse for all the makeup smeared on my old shirt. 

"Okay fine. I hid it from you and I would smell your shirt before I went to sleep," she suddenly confessed. "Are you happy now?" 

Yes. I was happy now. 

I moved a few steps closer to Sun Ye and wrapped her up in my arms. That was enough teasing for now. At least enough teasing of the verbal variety. With a grin I leaned in and kissed the side of her mouth, listening to her inhale sharply at the fleeting contact. I just continued pressing kisses against her jaw until I made it all the way to her ear.

"I am happy to know that being apart from me drives you just as crazy as it does to me," I whispered to her, letting my passion leak into every word.

Sun Ye just smiled back at me and leaned in to kiss me full on the lips. She didn't need to say anything. I could see my own feelings reflected in her eyes. She pulled back out of our kiss and I watched her carefully.

"You know, I just bought a really great white shirt. You can try that one out if you'd like," I said playfully.

She slapped my arm in retaliation. I just smirked at her, knowing that I had won that round in the end.

"Shut up Miss Coffee Smeller," she retorted angrily.

I couldn't help but chuckle at her adorable response. How could I be mad at that jab at my making coffee? She had her shirt and I had my coffee grounds. Neither was a proper substitute for the real deal, but we did what we could to make the distance just a little bit smaller. 

Sun Ye turned back to the stove and I could see her ears flushing red as she looked at the cooking rice.

"And I want the grey shirt..." she mumbled so quietly I could barely hear her.

My hearts swelled as I laughed at her timid comment. If she wanted that shirt of mine so badly she could have it. I leaned in to Sun Ye and kissed her once again. Sun Ye seemed to be happy enough with that and instinctively wound her arms around my shoulders to deepen our kiss. The kitchen faded around us and all I could feel was the woman in my arms. Coffee... T-shirts... none of that mattered. All that existed right now was me, her, and the smell of burnt rice.

Huh.

Sun Ye quickly pulled away from me as she smelled it too and turned back to the stove to take the charred rice off the burner. 

"See? You distracted me and now we have no lunch," she pouted at me irresistibly.

"Wow you are about as good at cooking as Sun Mi," I said sarcastically as I entangled myself around her again. "This is why I keep you in Korea."

I got a swift jab to my stomach for my sarcastic joke and she simply walked away to dump our burnt lunch into the trash can with my old, unnecessary coffee grounds.

I had missed her so much.

Who needed silly coffee when they had all of this?

==========

 

Our fingers intertwined playfully as we swung our hands. The walk back to my bedroom seemed to last forever, the anticipation hanging in the air between us drawing the entire experience out. Both our eyes were drawn to the rings on our linked hands. There was a certain gravitational pull that just kept the two of us staring at the light gold bands. I couldn't help but feel that it was the best possible present Sun Ye could have given me for my birthday. Not just because it made me happy, but because it made Sun Ye so happy. 

She nudged open the door to my room and looked around playfully. 

"Haven't changed much of the decor in here have you? It basically looks the same," she said as she poked around in my bedroom like she had in my kitchen.

I wrapped my arms around her silently, pulling her back against myself and away from her investigation. Although I found her inquisitive attitude over how I had been spending my time without her adorable, we had been apart for far too long and there were other things on my mind. The second my hands traced under the edge of her shirt to play across her stomach I could feel Sun Ye tense up and knew that she was just as ready as I was. I buried my head into her shoulder and took in that beautiful Sun Ye smell and traced even higher up on her stomach. My lips pressed light kisses to her shoulder, Sun Ye arched her neck to expose even more skin to my touch. With a nudge I guided her over to my bed and let her ease back onto it. 

"Hmm this bed even feels the same," Sun Ye said with a grin as she tugged me down on top of her by my collar.

"Well that won't be the only thing that will feel the same."

Sun Ye chuckled into my mouth as I lowered myself down to kiss her. 

"Just the same huh?"

I pulled back slightly and stared into her eyes. My fingers reached down and intertwined themselves with her hand and brought it up in between us. The dim city lights reflected off the rings on our fingers. 

"Perhaps the same but better then," I corrected myself with a grin.

She pulled her hand away from mine and moved to start unbuttoning my shirt. I moved to help her dispose of the garment, but she slapped my hands away as she leaned upward to kiss me. Her lips moved rhythmically against my own and my mind fogged up. Who cared about who unbuttoned what when I could be kissing her. I let my mind shut down as Sun Ye arched up to deepen the kiss. Her tongue moved along my bottom lip slowly and I opened my mouth to allow her to enter. 

Urgh it had been too long since we had done this. Sometimes I didn't mind the distance in between the two of us. Our relationship really had strengthened because of it. And then other times... I really missed this sort of feeling. Talking on the phone was all well and good, but after almost five months apart this sort of physical action was also important. By the way Sun Ye was touching me I could tell she felt the same way too. I moaned shakily into her mouth as she pushed my now unbuttoned shirt off my shoulders. 

I shrugged the material off myself and let Sun Ye pull back out of our kiss to check out her handiwork. A grin spread across my face as I watched her stare upwards at my exposed form. Her eyes darkened at the sight. While she was distracted I looped my fingers around the bottom of her shirt. That seemed to snap her back to the present. She growled lightly and leaned up off my bed. With a quick motion pushed on my shoulders and flipped me back onto the bed, repositioning herself straddling my hips. My eyebrow quirked at her questioningly. This was definitely not the normal course of actions. Usually she was all too willing to let me take the lead.

"Well this certainly feels different," I said huskily.

She smiled down at me and let her fingers toy with the buckle on my belt. 

"Different but better maybe?" she asked coyly.

Her fingers deftly undid my buckle as she stared down at me. I felt myself heat up under her analyzing stare. All I wanted was to be able to gaze at her the same way. My hands drifted up to the edge of her shirt once more, but she knocked them away with a small frown.

"No, I'm in charge right now birthday girl. And I need you to answer a question first."

"So if I answer the question then you'll..."

Sun Ye ignored me and started playing with the button at the top of my pants. She pouted slightly, making me even more curious what she could be thinking.

"When I was outside the club today there were some reporters there asking me questions."

Oh no that sort of phrase was never going to end well. Those reporters were always making up lies about me in the tabloids. Ever since my initial scandal with Sun Ye they seemed to take that as a reason to make up stories. After all, who would question them when the juiciest secret possible had already been proven true?

"Um... they said that while I was in Korea you had been with some guys..."

I blinked at her quiet statement. She couldn't possibly believe that rumor. I leaned up off the bed to look her in the eyes, hoping she would be able to see there just how wrong such a lie could possibly be. 

"Sun Ye, you know that there is no way I would do something like that to you. Not now. Not ever."

She smiled as she kissed me lightly on the lips, fingers running across my sides.

"Yeah I know, I just wanted to hear you say it I guess."

I nuzzled her cheek with my nose and basked in the feeling of her touch trailing across my skin. Silly crisis averted.

"Now I believe you promised me that you would even the clothing playing field if I answered your question."

Sun Ye giggled and pushed me back onto the bed. I stared back up at her sadly, but a smirk slowly slipped onto my face as she reached down and grabbed the edge of her clubbing shirts. She pulled them up and off in one fluid motion, exposing her toned stomach and lacey, blue bra. This was much better indeed. She laid down slowly on top of me once again and moved in to kiss me. Her fingers finished their work on my buttons and yanked on the fabric in an attempt to rid me of them. I lifted myself up off the bed to give her a chance to pull them off. She kissed me deeply, tongue playing lightly against mine. 

Take-charge Sun Ye was exciting. Anytime I moved to touch her or lessen her clothing she would just slap my hands away and then take off a piece of my own outfit. Although a good amount of pouting on my part had at least gotten her down to her underwear, she still wouldn't let me do anything. I arched into the bed and accepted whatever she had in store for me. 

Her fingers darted all over me, touching whatever skin was available. I shivered at the contact and ran my hands down her back. My palm curved and I let the gold band trace against her skin. Sun Ye trembled at the chilled metal running across her skin. I moaned into our kiss, glad that I had elicited a reaction like that from her; partially from the sensation of the cool ring and partially from the reminder of our new bond. She hissed into our kiss and drew her teeth across my bottom lip. Urgh. It drove me crazy when she did that.

And so I fell under Take-Charge Sun Ye's control once again. It was exactly what I had described earlier; the feeling of being with her was the same, but so very different at the same time. She touched me incessantly, obviously never wanting to be away from me for long. Even a second without being bound to me in some form was too much. There were certainly no complaints from me on that. I just trembled at her teasing touch and rode the waves of pleasure that they built up inside me. 

Oh Sun Ye, like any man could ever make me feel this way. Or any other woman for that matter. As I gasped in her embrace and clung to her back I knew that those rings were more than just couple rings. They were a promise between the two of us. Coffee grounds and old shirts were fine at keeping our memories alive, but this was even more than that. A solid thread that now bound the two of us.

Sun Ye collapsed on top of me, panting slightly. I weakly brushed aside the hair that clung to her forehead and kissed her there. She smiled at me and buried her head in my shoulder, both of us content to just bask in the afterglow of our reunion. My fingers traced her side languidly as we caught our breath. 

"You know I noticed it earlier, but your room isn't completely the same," she whispered into my shoulder.

I pulled back from her slightly to look her in the face and saw her eyes flick over to the corner of my room. There in the shadows was a new dresser. Busted.

"Oh um that... that was around 50% functional to fill up that empty corner and 50% wishful thinking."

She gave me a curious look at my vague response. I squirmed slightly against her, fighting back the heat rising in me again at the skin contact. 

"It's empty," I said quietly, stopping my teasing touches. "I don't know, I just thought that one day you might need some space and could... fill it up."

I could hear Sun Ye's breath catch in her throat. Her arm tightened its hold around me. We were certainly filled with deep feelings and confessionals today weren't we? I clung to Sun Ye quietly and waited for her reaction.

"Yubin... I want to move in. I want to make all of this... different... with you," she murmured into the dark.

Now it was my turn to stop breathing for a second. Images of the two of us spending every day like this one, back to our lives during those few beautiful weeks we lived together last year, flashed through my mind. All I wanted was to say yes to her and assure her that we could do that together.

"I want that too, Sun Ye. But I don't know just how that is gonna work out."

Sun Ye was quiet in my arms and went back to drawing patterns on her skin. She sighed happily as my fingers got more adventurous and traced to different spots on her body. I leaned in to kiss her, but stopped when I saw the tears shimmering in her eyes.

"But one day..."

My lips descended to kiss her softly, reassuringly. 

"One day..." I whispered.


	4. Fan club of One (and that's all that is needed)

Sidestory #4: Fan club of One (and that's all that is needed)

 

"Now give us a profile view."

Black hair sliced through the air as she turned to the side, head held high.

beep.

"Perfect. Now act like you are too good to even be here."

She wrapped her arms around herself and sent her most natural glare in the direction of the voice.

beep.

The camera continued its muted sounds as it captured the haughty poses of the stunning figure in front of it. So Hee just twisted and postured in front of the lens flawlessly, moving in perfect rhythm to the photographer's snapshots. 

There was just something about being in front of a camera that charged up So Hee. Sure being in the Wonder Girls had been fantastic; it taught her how to sing, dance, and be a star. Yet what she gleaned the most out of the whole experience was that she loved to be in front of the camera. Singing was hard work. Interviews were annoying and loud. 

But the camera was silent and focused just on her. 

She flicked her eyes indulgently toward the single, gleaming eye of the camera. 

beep.

"Yes! Just keep this up. I love it!"

And So Hee loved it too. Her lips curled in satisfaction as she soaked in the steady chirping sound of the camera venerating her form. The phrase 'silence is golden' came unbidden to her mind. Indeed a wise saying because she loved the solitude of being in front of the camera. She wouldn't consider it perfect perhaps, but it was pretty close. 

be-

"Ooooh I like that stare So Hee! Do that one again!"

So Hee's eye twitched as she heard the happy voice cut into the rhythmic sounds of the camera. Dammit. Not again.

"Actually your friend is right, that last glare was really fantastic."

"Good," So Hee stated brusquely. "Then use that shot because we are done here."

Sun Mi watched as her friend turned and stalked off the modeling set. The crew brushed the model's attitude off and started packing up their equipment happily. They had seen this sort of thing happen before and they already had plenty of quality shots for the magazine spread. Sun Mi darted after So Hee, her brown pigtails bobbing excitedly as she raced to catch up with her moody best friend.

"Wow guess I got here just in time if you are finishing up now!" Sun Mi said with a grin as she finally caught up. 

So Hee rolled her eyes. She couldn't even count the number of photo shoots Sun Mi had crashed at this point. It was practically expected. She wasn't even sure how the energetic girl managed to get into the studios in the first place; after all, it wasn't like flashing a school ID was going to get you privileged access. 

"Yeah nice timing Sun Mi," the model mumbled. "Although how you manage to figure out my schedule every day I still don't know."

"Oh that's easy. I'm your number one fan, president of your fan club! I know everything about you."

Of course. That was always the answer. So Hee was fairly certain that Sun Mi just took her phone and checked the appointments on there when she wasn't looking. There was no other reasonable explanation. They had been together for years now, but there was only so much that she could take. It was definitely time for a bit of a break. 

"Yeah, sure. Um hey I think they were giving something away on the stage next to this one," So Hee adlibbed quickly.

"Oh really? What sort of thing? Was it food cause I am a little bit hungry right now..."

"Wow what a coincidence. I think it was cookies," So Hee lied. 

Her chest twinged slightly as she saw the taller girl's eyes light up in excitement. Urgh. There was something about lying to Sun Mi that was akin to kicking a puppy. It just left you feeling really crappy. 

"Lucky! I'll go grab us some!" Sun Mi called out as she started making her way over to the sound stage. 

So Hee watched her friend disappear into the depths of the studio and immediately turned to go down the dressing room hallway in the opposite direction. That would buy her a few more minutes of solitude at least. Sun Mi was great and all, but sometimes...

I just want a few minutes to myself. It won't kill her. She needs to learn to live her own life sometime anyway.

She sighed as she opened the door to her dressing room slowly. A movement in the room caught her attention instantly. 

"What the... how did you get here so fast Sun Mi," she said in irritation. 

The man standing in the middle of her dressing room turned around and gave her a confused look. So Hee recognized him as the male model she had been working with for the beginning of her magazine photo shoot earlier today. 

Definitely not Sun Mi at all. But different can be good.

So Hee's eyes trailed over the model in front of her. He ran his hand through his short, black hair as his small piercing eyes watched her carefully. The poor guy still looked confused at her calling him Sun Mi, but other than that he was pretty cute. 

Yeah different is definitely good.

"Um hey," the model stammered out. "Um my name is Joomyung and we just did that photo shoot together and uh... I guess I was wondering if you might want to grab some dinner...?"

An almost unnoticeable grin curled onto So Hee's lips. Of course he wanted her. Everyone did. 

"So Hee~" Sun Mi's sing song voice echoed from the studio down the hall.

Urgh. This wasn't going to end well if Sun Mi saw Joomyung in her dressing room. This scenario had happened more times than she could count. Any time So Hee was interested in a boy Sun Mi somehow managed to invite herself along on the first date. The guy always got put off from how much the taller girl clung to her and would inevitably leave the date early. 

Three years of dates and not one boyfriend. This can't keep going on like this.

So Hee darted to the side and yanked her jacket and bag off of the dressing table and yanked open the door. She glanced over her shoulder at the stunned man.

"Alright. If we are going, we go now," she ordered.

Joomyung didn't need to think twice about that answer. He quickly rushed after So Hee as she disappeared into the hallway and slunk out the doorway to the outside world. Ahn So Hee had always been considered one of the most mysterious, and even bizarre, models in the business and he was only just starting to get a taste of that. 

 

\----------

 

"And then I did this cover shoot for the Korean edition of Vogue. They liked it so much that they think they might ask me to work with the real publication of Vogue too."

So Hee nodded loosely as she picked at her salad. Joonjung (was that even his name?) had been blabbering on for an hour about himself and all the impressive work he had done. The apathetic girl couldn't remember anything from it, except that she was vaguely impressed that he knew what the word 'publication' was in the first place. Oh well. They couldn't all be smart. At least this guy was pretty cute. 

Yet it still doesn't feel right. Always the same feeling. Empty.

She sighed as she let the bland models words wash over her, no longer paying any attention to what was said at all. Didn't this guy have anything to say that wasn't about himself? Frankly, she was far more successful at modeling than him, plus she had also been in one of the biggest pop groups of the past decade. Did he honestly think he was impressing her? 

This sort of thing happened all the time. She would go out with a guy and it would seem great at first. Yet it always seemed to devolve into something not quite clicking. Too tall. Too stuck up. Too dumb. It never seemed to work out and always left her with the same incomplete feeling.

So what would make me whole?

Suddenly she felt a weight slam into her side in the small restaurant booth causing her fork to flip bits of her salad all over the table. So Hee's head snapped to her left to see what had interrupted the one aspect of this dinner she had been enjoying. 

A pair of warm, dark eyes stared back happily.

Sun Mi. Of course. Who else could it have been?

"So Hee!" Sun Mi whined. "There wasn't any food on that sound stage at all. Instead you came to eat without me!"

So Hee sighed lightly. This was turning out just like all the rest of her dates. She glanced across the table and saw that Jounjung was just as upset about her friend crashing their dinner date. 

"God at this rate I will die single and alone," So He muttered to herself. 

"Huh? You'll never be alone. I'll always be here with you!" Sun Mi chirped happily as she wound her arms around So Hee's.

"Um, I feel a little out of place here," Junjung said in an irritated tone. "I think I will be going now."

The handsome model laid out some money on the table for his part of the meal and bowed before disappearing to the entrance of the restaurant. So Hee sighed. There went another one. Even if he was dumb as rocks he was still pretty cute.

"Finally we are alone. I thought he would never leave," Sun Mi said in a husky tone.

So Hee shook Sun Mi off her arm with a grimace. 

"Sun Mi!" So Hee said as she scooted away from her clingy friend "You always do this! Can't you just let me go out on a date for one night?!"

Sun Mi pouted at So Hee. 

"I was just following the call of nature; my stomach said I was hungry and it just so happened that I came to a restaurant and you were already there."

So Hee continued her deadpan stare at her best friend.

"...just so happened that your manager told me you would be here and I followed I mean," Sun Mi corrected herself as she ducked from So Hee's intense look.

The model let out a deep sigh and ran her hand through her long hair. She never could resist that sad look of Sun Mi's. Well if her date was already ruined she might as well just let the silly girl do whatever she wanted. It didn't help that her conscious was still nagging her about lying to Sun Mi earlier either.

"I bet if we go over to Sun Ye's place she is making dinner now. I mean. If you are hungry and all," So Hee said with a guilty flick of her eyes.

Sun Mi's face brightened up instantly and she jumped to her feet. 

"Yay home cooking! Let's go Sergeant Ahn!"

"Don't call me that," So Hee muttered as she scooted out of the booth slowly, dropping money onto the table for the meal her date hadn't covered. 

As soon as So Hee was free from the booth she was immediately wrapped up by Sun Mi again. 

There is never any escape.

Sun Mi's bright eyes stared down at So Hee as they started to make their way to Sun Ye's place. The hollow feeling she had from being with Jongung slowly started to fade away. 

But do I really want one?

 

\-----------

 

Sun Mi threw open the door at Sun Ye's apartment and dragged So Hee inside after her. So Hee's eyes trailed across a shocked Ye Eun and Sun Ye as they looked up from their dinner preparations in the kitchen. Sun Mi ignored their dropped jaws and skipped happily to the stools at the counter and sat down to watch. 

"Seriously you guys are like stray cats," Ye Eun said with an eye roll. "You only show up for a meal."

Sun Ye scoffed at her best friend loudly. 

"And you are any better?! You just showed up an hour ago when I walked in with the groceries."

The red-head threw down her knife she was using to chop vegetables on the cutting board and crossed her arms angrily.

"Hey at least I was attempting to help instead of sitting around. Cut your own damn vegetables then. No one likes them anyway. I'd rather just have extra meat."

"It's true," Sun Mi nodded in agreement. "Meat is usually more delicious when you make it."

"I'm on a diet for a new photo shoot. I can't eat meat," So Hee complained.

Sun Mi's eyes went wide and she went back to clinging to her friend protectively. 

"So Hee~ You are always on a diet for a photo shoot! You are going to waste away into nothing!" 

"Can't you all just act remotely normal for once," Sun Ye muttered in accent less English.

"Don't rub your perfect English in So Hee's face!" Sun Mi scolded back in Korean.

A smirk escaped from Ye Eun as the inevitable conflict started up fresh. Sun Ye slapped her for supposedly mocking her use of English. Sun Mi clung even more protectively to her best friend. And So Hee brushed off Sun Mi and stomped out to the couch in the living room and clicked on the television in an attempt to ignore her. The brunette wasn't going to let herself get abandoned so easily and still followed So Hee out to the living room like a puppy dog. 

So Hee leaned back on the couch while mentally taking note that Sun Ye had added even more release posters of Yubin's from America on the walls. She tore her eyes away from the slightly unsettling watching eyes of the rapper and tried to pay attention to the news report that was running on the screen. A new argument between Sun Ye and Ye Eun in the kitchen faded into the background. This was how it always was when the four of them got together. She had to admit deep down that something about this noise, while not as enjoyable as her peaceful modeling sessions, had its own special appeal. That hollow feeling from when she was out earlier with Jungung seemed less engulfing when sitting in Sun Ye's bright apartment. 

Next to her Sun Mi slunk cautiously onto the couch and curled up next to her. The girl was obviously being extra careful about upsetting her any more today. So Hee let a small smile sneak onto her lips at the effort. Sun Mi grinned back at the sight, knowing that for now at least she was forgiven. The tall girl snuggled into her side and picked up the remote to start clicking through the television channels. So Hee rolled her eyes. It didn't even seem to be worth the effort to say that she wanted to watch the news and not some music show. Might as well let Sun Mi have her fun.

How do I let this girl just do whatever she wants? She is such a free spirit that I just can't restrain her.

"You ruined another one of my dates today," So Hee whispered quietly over the sounds of the pair arguing in the kitchen and the television.

"Yeah well you shouldn't go on dates anyway," Sun Mi stated in return. "It'll make your fan club jealous."

So Hee snorted in disgust as she stared down at the girl snuggling into her.

"Like I care about what they think."

Sun Mi glanced up at her best friend, dark eyes shimmering slightly. The sight caught So Hee off guard and her breath caught in her chest.

"It'll make me jealous..." Sun Mi said softly.

"Ah..."

At So Hee's vague response Sun Mi turned her attention back to the television, humming happily to the new Tiff and Jes song on the program. 

So Hee stared down at the top of her friends head as it rest on her lap. This girl... was so hard to predict sometimes. When she was serious, when she was joking; it all seemed to flow together into some completely random pattern that left So Hee struggling to keep up. Even if Sun Mi was the one usually trailing behind her at all her jobs, So Hee was really the one who was trying to not fall behind. 

What do I do with you?

The girl patted her friend's head in her lap peacefully. Sun Mi murmured happily at the touch and continued her focus on the girls dancing and singing on television. So Hee took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 

That nagging empty feeling was gone. 

Maybe different is overrated. I can live with more of the same.

 

\---------

 

"And pull your hair back away from your face."

She ran her fingers deep into her black locks and tousled them.

beep.

"Perfect. Now give me that trademark staredown of yours."

Her eyes glared right into the camera, her thick eye liner making it all the more fierce.

beep.

So Hee threw her head back for the camera as she basked in the rhythmic clicks of the camera once again. The camera watched her every movement silently and captured it all. So Hee wondered if anyone could possibly be this happy at their job. Who needed boys when the camera loved her this much?

"Alright I think we have enough to work with of you in these outfits. Go change into the next set."

The photographer set his camera down and helped the staff start to clean up the set to switch to the next theme. So Hee bowed slightly and made her way back towards the dressing rooms. As she neared her room on the side hallway her manager popped up alongside her.

"The president of your fan club is here, the one who won the contest to hang out with you backstage at a photo shoot."

"There was a contest?" So Hee sighed in exasperation as she stood outside her room.

"Pay more attention to me when I speak to you," her manager whined helplessly. "I told you about it weeks ago."

"Whatever, I just have to put up with this person for an hour or so while I do the shoot right," So Hee grumbled as she opened the door to her dressing room.

So Hee stepped in and let the door slam shut behind her in her manager's face. She blandly turned around to address her fan club president and lay down the ground rules. 

Only to see Sun Mi's glowing, dark eyes.

"Sun Mi what are you doing here? I have to meet with the president of my fan club," So Hee groaned.

The brunette just grinned knowingly at her until the realization hit So Hee.

"Are you serious!? All those times you said you were president of my fan club I thought you were just joking!" 

"Why would I joke about something as important as that?" Sun Mi asked innocently as she grabbed onto her friend.

So Hee just sighed as she let the taller girl envelop her in a hug. The hollow ache in her chest once again disappearing. 

Somehow Sun Mi being at my job does somehow make it not just great, but perfect.

Not that she would ever admit that out loud.

"How did you ever even manage to become president?" So Hee mumbled.

"Easy! No one knows more about you than me! I passed their trivia contest. Ahn So Hee: birthday June 27. Blood type: AB. Trained for two years before entering the pop group Wonder Gir-"

"Okay Sun Mi I get it. I know about my life too," So Hee interrupted with a small smile. 

Sun Mi skipped off happily and pulled out So Hee's chair at her dressing table and let her friend sit down so she could play with her hair for the photo shoot, all the while naming off silly little facts that she knew about So Hee.

With a grin the model leaned back and laughed at her friend's comments and playful touch. She had admit that it was nice to hear someone talk about her, not about their own extensive modeling career. Egotistical perhaps, but that was the way she had always been; a fact that Sun Mi named off in her rambling list about her. So Hee's standoffish facades all came crashing to the ground as she laughed openly at Sun Mi naming things she had completely forgotten about herself.

Different is overrated. It is better to feel whole and happy. 

I'll never be alone, here with my fan club of one.


End file.
